Leona
Feminine · Greek roots · “Lioness”
Leona is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 113,330 girls against 294 boys since 1880.
Leona is the Latin feminine of Leo — the lion — and it has stayed in continuous American use through every turn of fashion since record-keeping began, never quite common, never quite gone. It is three syllables that swing open in the middle: lee-OH-nuh. The whole of Leo sits inside it, and so does Lee.
How old is the name Leona?
Leona was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Leona alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. About 31,500 people named Leona are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leona most popular?
Leona peaked in 1904, reaching #69 nationally. Today it ranks #429, 360 places below that high. See the whole 1904 chart.
Leona appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From leōn (Greek) to Leona
The story of Leona
The root is the Greek word leōn, 'lion', which Latin took as leo, with the stem leon- showing up in every other case of the noun. That stem produced Leon as a given name across the Greek-speaking Christian world and, later, all of Latin Europe, where a long line of popes and Byzantine emperors carried Leo. Leona is the straightforward Latinate feminine built on it, and it came into English-language use in the nineteenth century alongside a whole wave of feminines shaped this way — Alberta, Ernestine, Josephine. It settled into American records early and never left them.
Meaning
Lioness; feminine of Leo, 'lion'
From Greek leōn and Latin leo, leonis, 'lion'. Leona is built on the Latin oblique stem that also gives Leon and Leonard.
How the name formed
- leōnGreek
- Leo
- Leon
- Leona
Related forms: Leona · Léonie · Leonie · Leona · Leona · Leóna
Pronouncing Leona
lee-OH-nuh
Stress falls on the middle syllable in English. Czech, Spanish and Polish speakers say lay-OH-na, with a cleaner first vowel.
Nicknames for Leona
High
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 girls named
- 19183,335 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #69reached in 1904
- Change vs 2022
- +23.6%723 in 2025, from 585
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.
Leona in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leona in Czech — same name
- Léonie in French — related form
- Leonie in German — related form
- Leona in Spanish — same name
- Leona in Polish — same name
- Leóna in Hungarian — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Leonas among us
people named Leona are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 2,223 born in 2025 was named Leona
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Leona 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 Leona is headed
Leona should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Leona beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Leona in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and transparent — anyone who knows Leo can work out Leona, in almost any European language.
- Spells itself from the sound. Heard once, it is usually written correctly the first time.
- Short forms already exist and have for generations: Lee, Leo, Nona.
- Recognized well beyond English — Leona in Czech, Spanish and Polish, Leonie and Léonie in German and French.
- An unbroken presence in American records through every shift in taste, so it has never needed explaining.
- Most living Leonas belong to the oldest generations, so some listeners will place it firmly in the past rather than the present. That gap is exactly what makes a name available again, but it is worth knowing before you say it aloud to relatives.
- It can be misheard as Leanna, Leonna or Fiona, and some people will put the stress on the first syllable. A single repetition usually fixes it.
- With Leo currently so visible for boys, Leona is often heard as 'the girls' version of Leo' rather than as its own name — fine if you like the pairing, less so if you wanted distance from it.
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What they receive
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Leona
Feminine · Greek roots · #429 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Leonas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 31,500 people named Leona are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Leona in 2025?
- Leona ranks #429 among US girl names in 2025, with 723 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Leona?
- About 1 in every 2,223 US girls born in 2025 was named Leona — 723 in all.
- Will my child share the name Leona with classmates?
- Leona will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Leona
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Trinity#428 · Katalina#430 · London#431 · Veronica#427 · Dream#432 · Winter#426 · Maia#433 · Sarai#424
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Leona? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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