Lera
Feminine · “Latin valere”
Russian nicknames often come from the middle of a name. Aleksandr gives Sasha, Yekaterina gives Katya, Vladimir gives Vova, Valeriya gives Lera. Most languages clip the front or the back; Russian reaches into the center and takes a syllable that is not at either end.
How old is the name Lera?
Lera first appears in US birth records in 1885 — 140 years ago. The typical Lera alive today was born around 1925, making them about 100 years old. About 800 people named Lera are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lera most popular?
Lera peaked in 1903, reaching #607 nationally. Today it ranks #9457, 8,850 places below that high. See the whole 1903 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Valeriya to Lera
The story of Lera
Russian hypocorisms are formed by taking a portion of the name, often not the beginning, and adding a diminutive suffix, and the results are frequently unrecognizable. Aleksandr and Aleksandra both give Sasha, from the middle. Yekaterina gives Katya. Dmitri gives Mitya. Vladimir gives Vova and Volodya. Yevgeny gives Zhenya. Valeriya gives Lera, from the second and third syllables. Anna gives Anya and Nyura. English does something similar only rarely, in Beth from Elizabeth and Xander from Alexander; most English clipping takes the stressed opening. The Russian pattern means a person may be addressed all their life by a name that shares only two or three letters with the one on their documents, and foreigners reading a Russian novel routinely lose track of who is who.
Meaningscholars disagree
Latin valere, to be strong or well
Lera is the standard Russian familiar form of Valeriya, from Latin valere, to be strong or in good health. In American records of the early twentieth century the same spelling more likely represents a variant of Lora, Leora or Elnora. The 1903 peak is too early for a Russian source in any quantity. The peak is 1903.
How the name formed
- Valeriya
- Lera
Related forms: Lera · Lora
Pronouncing Lera
LEH-rah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Russian says the same. American speakers sometimes say LEER-ah instead.
Nicknames for Lera
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
- 1885
- Most girls named
- 192070 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #607reached in 1903
- Change vs 2022
- 0.0%10 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.
Lera in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lera in Russian — same name
- Lora in English — related form
Leras among us
people named Lera are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 160,727 born in 2025 was named Lera
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
Lera 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
Lera beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lera in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two syllables, as compact as a name gets.
- Valeria is available as the formal version.
- The vowels are simple and clear.
- It reads as a familiar form rather than a formal name.
- The first vowel has two English readings.
- The 1903 peak places it over a century ago.
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Lera
Feminine · #9457 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Leras 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 Lera are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lera in 2025?
- Lera ranks #9457 among US girl names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lera?
- About 1 in every 160,727 US girls born in 2025 was named Lera — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lera with classmates?
- Lera will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lera
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Leta#9457 · Inga#9457 · Delphia#9457 · Cammie#9457 · Lisandra#9457 · Amee#9457 · Venecia#9457 · Annetta#9457
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lera? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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