Leone
Feminine · “lion”
Leone is given to both — 6,182 girls and 455 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Leone is the lion in Italian, and it is also a feminine of Leo — one of the few names that is simply the animal, without ornament or metaphor.
How old is the name Leone?
Leone was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Leone alive today was born around 1919, making them about 106 years old. About 800 people named Leone are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leone most popular?
Leone peaked in 1904, reaching #333 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 12,875 places below that high. See the whole 1904 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From leo to Leone
The story of Leone
Leo was carried by thirteen popes and by Byzantine emperors, and the lion was among the most used images in medieval heraldry and hagiography. Italian kept Leone as an ordinary masculine name; English and American use took it as a feminine of Leon from the nineteenth century, and Leone peaked around 1918.
Meaning
lion
From the Latin leo, genitive leonis, 'lion' — the Italian leone is the direct descendant and is still the ordinary word. The name is used as a feminine of Leon and Leo in English and as a masculine in Italian. The meaning is transparent and undisputed.
How the name formed
- leo
- Leone
Related forms: Leone · Leona · Léone
Pronouncing Leone
lee-OHN
Two syllables, stress on the second. Italian says leh-OH-neh with three.
Nicknames for Leone
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 girls named
- 1916253 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #333reached in 1904
- Change vs 2023
- −40.0%6 in 2025, from 10
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.
Leone in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leone in Italian — same name
- Leona in English — related form
- Léone in French — same name
Leones among us
people named Leone are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Leone
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
Leone 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
Leone beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Leone in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The lion meaning is concrete, transparent and undisputed.
- Leo is available as a short form with real currency now.
- It is standard in Italian and French without change.
- In Italian the name is masculine, which reverses the English reading.
- The syllable count differs between English and Italian.
- It is period-coded to the early twentieth century in American records.
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What they receive
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Leone
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Leones are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Leone are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Leone in 2025?
- Leone ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Leone?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Leone — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Leone with classmates?
- Leone will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Leone
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Leone? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Leone and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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