Leelan
Masculine · “Fallow land”
Leelan is a phonetic spelling of Leland, which is an English place name meaning fallow land — ground left uncultivated for a season. The double e writes down a first syllable that the standard spelling leaves ambiguous.
How old is the name Leelan?
Leelan first appears in US birth records in 2005 — 20 years ago. The typical Leelan is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Leelan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leelan most popular?
Leelan peaked in 2013, reaching #2715 nationally. Today it ranks #5399, 2,684 places below that high. See the whole 2013 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From lǣge land to Leelan
The story of Leelan
The English surname Leland or Leyland comes from Leyland in Lancashire, and John Leland the sixteenth-century antiquary, who toured England cataloguing its libraries before the monasteries were dissolved, is its most consequential bearer. In America the name is associated with Leland Stanford, the railroad magnate and governor of California who founded Stanford University in memory of his son. As a given name Leland was steady in American use through the first half of the twentieth century and has revived modestly since 2010. Leelan is a small variant stream, peaking in 2013 alongside Leelin and Leland's own return.
Meaning
Fallow land, uncultivated ground
Leland comes from Old English lǣge land, fallow or untilled land, giving an English place name and then a surname. The reading is settled. Leelan is a phonetic American respelling; the double e marks the long first vowel that Leland's single e does not signal reliably.
How the name formed
- lǣge land
- Leland
- Leelan
Related forms: Leyland · Leland
Pronouncing Leelan
LEE-lun
Two syllables, stress on the first, identical to Leland. The double e removes the ambiguity of the single e in the standard spelling.
Nicknames for Leelan
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 2005
- Most boys named
- 201544 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2715reached in 2013
- Change vs 2024
- +21.4%17 in 2025, from 14
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Leelan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leyland in Old English — related form
- Leland in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Ohio.
Leelans among us
people named Leelan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 100,475 born in 2025 was named Leelan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Leelan
- #5399
- Leelan on the 2025 chart
- #902
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Leelan went to 17 boys in 2025, but Lelan is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 26, which makes it the 902nd most-given boys’ name of the year — 4,497 places above the chart.
- Leelan17
- Lelan9
About 1 boy in 65,695 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 100,475 for Leelan itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jamee test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Leelan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jamee climbed just as high around 1973, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jamee's path sketches the road Leelan is walking now.
Leelan sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Leelan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Leelan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and connects to a documented English place.
- Lee is a complete and very established name available as a short form.
- The spelling removes any doubt about the first vowel.
- Leland is the standard spelling and will be written for it.
- Leelan, Leelin, Leland and Leelen are four spellings of one sound.
- It reads as a phonetic respelling to anyone who knows the standard form.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Leelan to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Leelan? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Leelan
Masculine · #5399 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Leelans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Leelan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Leelan?
- Leelan is the most-used spelling in US records — 17 of the 26 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Lelan.
- How popular is the name Leelan in 2025?
- Leelan ranks #5399 among US boy names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Leelan?
- About 1 in every 100,475 US boys born in 2025 was named Leelan — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name Leelan with classmates?
- Leelan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Leelan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Frazier#5399 · Franz#5399 · Demetrio#5399 · Rolan#5399 · Rayvon#5399 · Riddick#5399 · Laramie#5399 · Soloman#5399
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Leelan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Leelan and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle