Leiah
Feminine · “weary”
Leiah is a spelling that adds an i to Leah, and the Hebrew name it comes from is given a hard reading by the text itself.
How old is the name Leiah?
Leiah first appears in US birth records in 1963 — 62 years ago. The typical Leiah alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 1,400 people named Leiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leiah most popular?
Leiah peaked in 2012, reaching #2373 nationally. Today it ranks #4265, 1,892 places below that high. See the whole 2012 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Leiah
Ours, offered as ours. The pairing reading is the more satisfying one: if Rachel is a ewe and Leah is a wild cow, the two sisters have animal names of the same kind, which was ordinary in a pastoral society and makes the pair deliberate. The weary reading is standard and gives her a name that matches the text's rather sad treatment of her. Leiah adds an i, which changes nothing in the sound and marks the spelling as chosen.
Meaningscholars disagree
weary
Hebrew Le'ah is generally read as weary or tired; an alternative connects it to an Akkadian word for a wild cow, which would pair with Rachel, a ewe. Neither is fully settled and both are seriously offered.
Pronouncing Leiah
LEE-ah
Two syllables, first stressed. Leiah and Leah are said identically.
Nicknames for Leiah
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
- 1963
- Most girls named
- 201278 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2373reached in 2012
- Change vs 2024
- −25.0%33 in 2025, from 44
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.
Leiah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leah in English — spelling variant
- Le'ah in Hebrew — same name
- Lía in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Leiahs among us
people named Leiah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 48,705 born in 2025 was named Leiah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Leiah
- #4265
- Leiah on the 2025 chart
- #269
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Leiah went to 33 girls in 2025, but Leia, Leya 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 — 3,996 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 1,334 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 48,705 for Leiah 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 Teonna test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Leiah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Teonna climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Teonna's path sketches the road Leiah is walking now.
Leiah 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 Leiah is headed
Leiah 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.
Leiah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Leiah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One of the four matriarchs of Genesis stands behind it.
- Lee and Lia are both plain short forms.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Leah is the standard spelling and will be written for her constantly.
- The standard reading of the meaning is weary, which some find hard.
- Leiah, Leia, Leah and Lea are all in use and only Leah is common.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Leiah
Feminine · #4265 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Leiahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Leiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Leiah?
- Leiah is one of 6 recorded spellings. Leia is the more common one — 1,033 births in 2025 against 33 for Leiah.
- How popular is the name Leiah in 2025?
- Leiah ranks #4265 among US girl names in 2025, with 33 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Leiah?
- About 1 in every 48,705 US girls born in 2025 was named Leiah — 33 in all.
- Will my child share the name Leiah with classmates?
- Leiah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Leiah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hyacinth#4265 · Halina#4265 · Michal#4265 · Sadia#4265 · Zahava#4265 · Maiah#4265 · Daysi#4265 · Corrie#4265
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Leiah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Leiah and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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