Lennis
Feminine · “Lion strong”
Lennis is given to both — 537 girls and 1,217 boys since 1880. See Lennis as a boy nameSee other names given to both
The most famous Leonard had no surname at all. Da Vinci is not a family name; it means from Vinci, the hill town he came from, and he signed himself with his own name and that description because there was nothing else to sign.
How old is the name Lennis?
Lennis first appears in US birth records in 1898 — 127 years ago. The typical Lennis alive today was born around 1935, making them about 90 years old. About 200 people named Lennis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lennis most popular?
Lennis peaked in 1898, reaching #1171 nationally. See the whole 1898 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Lennis
Surnames were still optional in fifteenth-century Italy for people outside the great families, and the illegitimate son of a notary from a small town would not have had one. He was Leonardo, son of Piero, from Vinci, and each of those parts is a description rather than a name; catalogs that file him under V are following a convention that did not exist while he was alive. The same is true of a good many people from that period whose names look like surnames now. Meanwhile a similar-looking name has a completely separate origin: the Russian revolutionary took his working name from the river Lena in Siberia, where he had been in exile, and it has nothing to do with Leonard or with any of the names that resemble it.
Meaningscholars disagree
Lion strong
If the name is built on Leonard, the Germanic joins the borrowed Latin word for a lion to a word meaning brave or hardy. Whether this particular American name comes from there, from Lenny as a shortening of something else, or from nowhere in particular, cannot be established; the ending is an American addition either way and carries no sense.
Pronouncing Lennis
LEN-iss
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The final s is unvoiced, as in miss rather than as in his, and the doubled n keeps the first vowel short.
Nicknames for Lennis
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
- 1898
- Most girls named
- 194619 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1171reached in 1898
- Change vs 1977
- 0.0%5 in 2001, from 5
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.
Lenniss among us
people named Lennis are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Lennis sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Short, firm and easy to spell once heard, with no silent letters.
- Len and Lenny are two short forms in different registers.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- The record carries this spelling for girls as well as boys, so it signals nothing on a form.
- It will be heard as Dennis and as Lenis, and both are closer to familiar words.
- The full name behind it cannot be recovered, so there is no meaning to give.
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Lennis
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Lenniss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Lennis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lennis in 2025?
- Lennis is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Lennis with classmates?
- Lennis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Linda#902 · Lisa#987 · Laura#379 · Lauren#401 · Lillian#57 · Lori#1721 · Louise#514 · Lois#1666
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lennis? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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