Leon
Feminine · “lion”
Leon is given to boys far more often — 182,638 boys against 1,436 girls since 1880. See Leon as a boy name
Leon is the French and Spanish form of a Latin name, and the Spanish kingdom that shares the spelling did something in eleven eighty-eight that nobody else in Europe had done: it summoned townsmen to sit in an assembly alongside the nobility and the clergy, and the records of that meeting are the earliest documentary evidence of a parliamentary system anywhere.
How old is the name Leon?
Leon first appears in US birth records in 1891 — 134 years ago. The typical Leon alive today was born around 1930, making them about 95 years old. About 600 people named Leon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leon most popular?
Leon peaked in 1908, reaching #1044 nationally. See the whole 1908 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From The Latin word for the animal, used as a name to Leon
The story of Leon
The assembly at Leon was called because the king needed money and could not raise it without the towns, which is the ordinary reason such bodies come into existence anywhere. What made it notable is that the decrees issued from it survive, and they record commitments the king made in return: not to make war or peace without consultation, to respect certain legal protections, and to guarantee the inviolability of the home and of the mail. UNESCO added the documents to its register of world memory on exactly that basis. It is a useful corrective to the standard English account of where representative government began, which starts a century later and in a different country, and it is almost entirely unknown outside Spain.
Meaning
lion
The Latin word for the animal, used as a personal name from the imperial period and carried by more than a dozen popes. The reading is settled. The Spanish kingdom's name is a separate matter and comes from the Roman legion stationed there rather than from the animal, which is why the two are spelled alike and mean different things.
How the name formed
- The Latin word for the animal, used as a name
- Carried by more than a dozen popes
- Leon in French, Spanish and German use
- Widely used in America and returning strongly
Related forms: Leon · Leon · Leon · Leo
Pronouncing Leon
LEE-on
Two syllables, stress on the first, in American use. Spanish puts it on the second and writes an accent to say so; French makes it almost one syllable. The same four letters are said three ways across Europe.
Nicknames for Leon
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
- 1891
- Most girls named
- 192042 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1044reached in 1908
- Change vs 1992
- +40.0%7 in 2022, 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.
Leon in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leon in Spanish — same name
- Leon in French — same name
- Leon in German — same name
- Leo in Latin — related form
Leons among us
people named Leon 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
Leon 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
- It is used unchanged in French, Spanish, German and Polish, which is a very wide range.
- Leo is available inside it and is currently extremely fashionable.
- The meaning is concrete and needs no explaining to a child.
- The stress falls differently in English and Spanish, which a bilingual family will notice.
- The Spanish place name is spelled identically and means something else.
- The spelling is on the register for girls as well, in very small numbers.
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What they receive
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Leon
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Leons 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 Leon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Leon in 2025?
- Leon is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Leon with classmates?
- Leon 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 Leon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Leon and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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