Leon
Masculine · “lion”
Leon is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 182,638 boys against 1,436 girls since 1880. See Leon as a girl 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 was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Leon alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 94,500 people named Leon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leon most popular?
Leon peaked in 1926, reaching #73 nationally. Today it ranks #138, 65 places below that high. See the whole 1926 chart.
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19242,677 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #73reached in 1926
- Change vs 2022
- +8.8%2,583 in 2025, from 2,374
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
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. International figures from Statistics Canada, National Records of Scotland, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Leons among us
people named Leon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 661 born in 2025 was named Leon
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Johnnie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Leon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Johnnie climbed just as high around 1910, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Johnnie's path sketches the road Leon is walking now.
Leon is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Leon is headed
Leon looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 15% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
High 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.
Leon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Leon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
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
Masculine · #138 in the U.S.
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 94,500 people named Leon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Leon in 2025?
- Leon ranks #138 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,583 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Leon?
- About 1 in every 661 US boys born in 2025 was named Leon — 2,583 in all.
- Will my child share the name Leon with classmates?
- Leon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Leon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Declan#139 · Jameson#137 · Nathaniel#140 · Stetson#136 · Beckett#141 · Kayden#135 · Zion#142 · Malachi#134
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; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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