Leia
Feminine · Hebrew roots · “weary" through Hebrew Leah”
Leia is the spelling the Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible used for Jacob's wife — Λεία — and it is also a Hawaiian word for a garland or wreath, two unrelated roads that arrive at the same four letters. English speakers mostly met it through Princess Leia Organa in the 1977 film, though the spelling was already appearing in American records before that. Two vowels, two syllables, and an open ending that keeps it soft in the mouth.
How old is the name Leia?
Leia first appears in US birth records in 1949 — 76 years ago. The typical Leia is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 18,500 people named Leia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leia most popular?
Leia peaked in 2023, reaching #211 nationally. Today it ranks #297, 86 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Where it comes from
From Le'ah (Hebrew) to Leia
The story of Leia
The oldest thread runs through the Hebrew name Le'ah, borne in Genesis by Jacob's first wife; when the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, it was written Λεία, and Latin and the Romance languages carried it on as Lia, with Léia established in Brazilian Portuguese. A wholly separate thread is Hawaiian, where leia belongs to the family of words around lei, the garland. In English the spelling became widely legible after George Lucas gave it to Princess Leia Organa in 1977, and it has been in steady use since — a name whose wave in the United States is recent enough that most bearers are still children.
Meaningscholars disagree
"weary" through Hebrew Leah; "garland, wreath" in Hawaiian
As a form of Leah, the Hebrew name in Genesis is traditionally read as "weary," with some scholars connecting it instead to an Akkadian word for cow or wild cow. Quite separately, Hawaiian leia relates to lei, a garland or wreath. Which reading applies depends entirely on which tradition a family is drawing from, and both are genuine.
How the name formed
- Le'ahHebrew
- LeiaGreek, Septuagint
- Lia
- LéiaPortuguese
- Leia
Related forms: Leah · Λεία · Léia · Lia · Lea · Leia
Pronouncing Leia
LAY-ah
LAY-ah is the usual American pronunciation, following the film. LEE-ah is also heard, especially from people reading it as a version of Leah, and both are defensible — worth deciding early which one your family says.
Nicknames for Leia
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
- 1977 — Star Wars introduces Princess Leia
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1949
- Most girls named
- 20221,216 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #211reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −6.0%1,033 in 2025, from 1,099
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.
Leia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leah in Hebrew — related form
- Λεία in Greek — transliteration
- Léia in Portuguese — spelling variant
- Lia in Italian — related form
- Lea in German — related form
- Leia in Hawaiian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Leias among us
people named Leia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,556 born in 2025 was named Leia
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Leia
- #297
- Leia on the 2025 chart
- #269
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Leia went to 1,033 girls in 2025, but Leya, Leiah and Leyah and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 1,205, which makes it the 269th most-given girls’ name of the year — 28 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 1,334 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 1,556 for Leia 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 Patrice test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Leia's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Patrice climbed just as high around 1958, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Patrice's path sketches the road Leia is walking now.
Leia 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
Where Leia is headed
Leia should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Leia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Leia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, two syllables, and no silent letters — easy for a young child to write and easy to say once heard.
- Documented in Hebrew, Greek, Portuguese and Hawaiian traditions, so it is recognizable well beyond English.
- A widely known cultural reference means almost no one needs the spelling explained twice.
- Several ready-made short forms — Lei, Lia, Lea — each of which also works as a full name.
- Two live pronunciations, LAY-ah and LEE-ah, mean the name will occasionally be said the way you did not intend. A quick correction usually settles it, but the correcting never quite stops.
- The Star Wars association is immediate and permanent for a great many people, and it will draw comments — affectionate ones, mostly, but frequent.
- Leah, Lea, Lia and Léia are all in circulation, so forms and email addresses will sometimes come back with the wrong one.
- Because this name's wave is very recent, a Leia is likely to be the only one in her class — good for distinctiveness, and it also means fewer adults have met the spelling before.
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What they receive
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Leia
Feminine · Hebrew roots · #297 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Leias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 18,500 people named Leia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Leia?
- Leia is the most-used spelling in US records — 1,033 of the 1,205 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Leya, Leiah, Leyah, Leiya and Leeyah.
- How popular is the name Leia in 2025?
- Leia ranks #297 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,033 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Leia?
- About 1 in every 1,556 US girls born in 2025 was named Leia — 1,033 in all.
- Will my child share the name Leia with classmates?
- Leia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
- What explains the spikes and dips on Leia's chart?
- Leia climbed after 1977 — Star Wars introduces Princess Leia.
Ranked beside Leia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Esme#298 · Elowyn#299 · Blake#295 · Dakota#295 · Sylvia#300 · Maggie#294 · Evelynn#301 · Aylani#293
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Leia? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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