Lev
Masculine · “lion' in Slavic use”
Lev is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 2,999 boys against 84 girls since 1880.
Three letters, one syllable, and two long histories behind it: Lev is the Russian and Czech form of Leo, and it is also the Hebrew word for heart. It has been written in Cyrillic and in Hebrew letters far longer than it has appeared on American birth records, where it arrived quietly and has held its ground ever since. Said aloud it is over in an instant — a clean vowel between two consonants, nothing to trim.
How old is the name Lev?
Lev first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Lev is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 3,000 people named Lev are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lev most popular?
Lev peaked in 2025, reaching #999 nationally. Today it ranks #999, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lev appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Leon to Lev
The story of Lev
The Greek name Leon, 'lion', traveled through Latin as Leo and was carried into the Slavic languages by the church, where it settled as Lev — the name of the Russian writer Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, known in English as Leo. In Czech and Slovak the same form appears; Polish shifted it to Lew. On a separate road entirely, Hebrew lev, 'heart', gave a short given name used among Jewish families, and Yiddish-speaking emigration brought both the Slavic and the Hebrew Lev to the United States together. In American use it also gets pressed into service as a short form of Levi, which is a different name again — from a Hebrew root about being joined or attached.
Meaningscholars disagree
'lion' in Slavic use; 'heart' in Hebrew use
Two separate names share this spelling. The Slavic Lev descends from Greek Leon, 'lion', and is the standard Russian and Czech equivalent of Leo. Independently, Hebrew lev means 'heart', and the name is used in Jewish families with that sense. Neither reading is a guess and neither cancels the other — which of the two a family means usually depends on the family.
How the name formed
- Leon
- Leo
- Lev
Related forms: Лев · לב · Lev · Lew · Leone · Leo
Pronouncing Lev
LEV
In English, one syllable rhyming with 'rev'. Russian speakers say it closer to 'LYEF', with a softened l and a devoiced final consonant. Both are correct for their own language, and a family may hear the two side by side.
Nicknames for Lev
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
- 1971
- Most boys named
- 2025227 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #999reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +5.6%227 in 2025, from 215
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.
Lev in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Лев in Russian — transliteration
- לב in Hebrew — transliteration
- Lev in Czech — same name
- Lew in Polish — spelling variant
- Leone in Italian — related form
- Leo in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Florida.
Levs among us
people named Lev are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 7,525 born in 2025 was named Lev
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 Dustyn test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Lev's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dustyn climbed just as high around 1995, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dustyn's path sketches the road Lev is walking now.
Lev 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 Lev is headed
Lev should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Lev beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lev in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters, spelled exactly as an English speaker would sound it out — no variant spellings to correct over a lifetime.
- Works in Slavic, Hebrew and English-speaking settings without translation or adjustment.
- Sits beside the familiar Leo and Levi, so it reads as a real name to people who have never met one.
- Already as short as it goes, so it needs no nickname and resists being reshaped into one.
- It will be heard as a shortening of Levi or a variant of Leo more or less constantly. Some families are happy to let that happen; if you want Lev treated as the whole name, expect to say so often.
- The two meanings, 'lion' and 'heart', both travel with the spelling. Relatives may assume the one from their own tradition, which is worth knowing before the questions start.
- A one-syllable name ending in a consonant pairs unevenly with some short surnames, so it is worth saying the full name aloud a few times.
- A child named Lev is unlikely to meet another in the same classroom — pleasant for some children, tiring for those who would rather not explain their name each September.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Lev to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Lev
Masculine · #999 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Levs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,000 people named Lev are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lev in 2025?
- Lev ranks #999 among US boy names in 2025, with 227 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lev?
- About 1 in every 7,525 US boys born in 2025 was named Lev — 227 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lev with classmates?
- Lev will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lev
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Langston#999 · Kabir#999 · Macklin#998 · Landry#996 · Howard#1002 · Oziel#996 · Benito#1002 · Brennan#1002
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lev? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lev and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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