Leonard
Feminine · “lion”
Leonard is given to boys far more often — 294,334 boys against 1,412 girls since 1880. See Leonard as a boy name
Leonard is a Frankish compound joining a lion to a word meaning hardy, and it is a different name from Leon despite the obvious first element. Leon is the Latin word for the animal used directly; Leonard is a Germanic name built with the animal as an element, which is a separate operation in a separate language.
How old is the name Leonard?
Leonard first appears in US birth records in 1892 — 133 years ago. The typical Leonard alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 700 people named Leonard are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leonard most popular?
Leonard peaked in 1892, reaching #1171 nationally. See the whole 1892 chart.
Where it comes from
From A Latin word for the lion borrowed into Germanic to Leonard
The story of Leonard
The most famous bearer had no surname. In fifteenth-century Tuscany ordinary people were identified by a first name and a place or a father's name, and the painter from the village of Vinci was called exactly that: Leonardo from Vinci, which is a description rather than a family name. Calling him by the second half alone is like calling somebody from Manchester by the city's name and expecting it to identify them. He signed himself with his first name. Italian catalogs still file him under it, and English-speaking habit has been quietly wrong about this for two centuries, which is a small thing and worth knowing if the name is going in the family.
Meaning
lion, hardy
Two elements: the word for the lion, which Germanic borrowed from Latin, and a Germanic word meaning hardy or brave which closes a long list of names. The reading is settled. What is worth separating is the name from Leon: the first element is shared and nothing else is, and the two arrived in English by entirely different roads.
How the name formed
- A Latin word for the lion borrowed into Germanic
- Joined to a Germanic element meaning hardy
- Leonard across France, Germany and England
- Very widely used in early twentieth-century America
Related forms: Leonardo · Leonardo · Leonhard · Leonard
Pronouncing Leonard
LEN-erd
Two syllables in ordinary English speech, with the first vowel reduced from the three syllables the spelling suggests. Italian and Spanish give it four with the stress on the third, which makes the same name sound considerably grander.
Nicknames for Leonard
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
- 1892
- Most girls named
- 192842 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1171reached in 1892
- Change vs 1986
- −36.4%7 in 1989, from 11
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.
Leonard in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leonardo in Italian — same name
- Leonardo in Spanish — same name
- Leonhard in German — same name
- Leonard in French — same name
Leonards among us
people named Leonard 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
Leonard 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 across most of Europe and needs no translation anywhere.
- Len and Leo are two very different short forms and both stand alone.
- It has a documented meaning and an unbroken record of many centuries.
- It is strongly associated with an earlier American generation, though it is returning.
- English reduces it to two syllables where the continental forms keep four.
- The spelling is on the register for girls as well, in very small numbers.
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Leonard
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Leonards are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Leonard are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Leonard in 2025?
- Leonard is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Leonard with classmates?
- Leonard 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 Leonard? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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