Leviathan
Masculine · “the coiling one”
Leviathan is a sea monster, and the Hebrew Bible is entirely serious about it. God spends the last chapters of Job describing the creature at length, and the argument of the whole speech is that there are things in the world nobody is going to master.
How old is the name Leviathan?
Leviathan first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Leviathan is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Leviathan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leviathan most popular?
Leviathan peaked in 2020, reaching #1758 nationally. Today it ranks #2941, 1,183 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Where it comes from
From Litan to Leviathan
The story of Leviathan
Leviathan appears in Job, in the Psalms and in Isaiah as a sea creature that God either plays with or will one day destroy, and the imagery has parallels in older Canaanite writing about a many-headed serpent. In the seventeenth century the word became the title of a book about the state, and after that it entered English as a general word for anything enormous. Its use as a given name is very recent, thoroughly American, and belongs alongside Titan, Zeus and Maverick in a group of names chosen for their scale.
Meaningscholars disagree
the coiling one
Hebrew Livyatan is generally traced to a root about twisting or coiling, which suits a creature described as a serpent. A connection to a word for a wreath or garland — something wound round — has been proposed on the same root. The name is very old and probably predates Hebrew; a cognate appears in Ugaritic texts as Litan, a serpent defeated by a god. The reading is likely rather than proven.
How the name formed
- Litan
- Livyatan
- Leviathan
Related forms: Livyatan · Leviatán
Pronouncing Leviathan
luh-VY-uh-thun
Four syllables with the stress on the second. Hebrew says liv-ya-TAN, with the stress at the end and a fuller final syllable. The English saying is the one the name will meet.
Nicknames for Leviathan
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
- 1991
- Most boys named
- 202087 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1758reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- −32.3%42 in 2025, from 62
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.
Leviathan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Livyatan in Hebrew — transliteration
- Leviatán in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Pennsylvania.
Leviathans among us
people named Leviathan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 40,668 born in 2025 was named Leviathan
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 Daevon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Leviathan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Daevon climbed just as high around 2000, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Daevon's path sketches the road Leviathan is walking now.
Leviathan 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 Leviathan is headed
Leviathan 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.
Leviathan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Leviathan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Levi and Lev are two ready short forms and both are established names.
- A documented ancient origin with a genuinely striking literary presence.
- Four syllables give it real weight, which pairs well with a short surname.
- It names a monster, and everyone who meets the name will know that.
- Four syllables and an unfamiliar shape mean it will be spelled out constantly.
- The short forms Levi and Lev are far more likely to be used than the full name.
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What they receive
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Leviathan
Masculine · #2941 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Leviathans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Leviathan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Leviathan in 2025?
- Leviathan ranks #2941 among US boy names in 2025, with 42 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Leviathan?
- About 1 in every 40,668 US boys born in 2025 was named Leviathan — 42 in all.
- Will my child share the name Leviathan with classmates?
- Leviathan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Leviathan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Prescott#2941 · Kwame#2941 · Michelangelo#2941 · Jahan#2941 · Kairi#2941 · Yonah#2941 · Nihal#2941 · Reyes#2941
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Leviathan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Leviathan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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