Lenny

What Lenny means

Diminutive of Leonard, meaning “lion”

diminutive of the male given name Leonard || From Old French Leonard, name of a 6th century Frankish saint, from Old High German leo (“lion”) or Old High German liut (“person”) and hart (“hard”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Lenny” (revision 93813019) and “Leonard” (revision 93884502), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Lenny?

US: Falling: down from #1141 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #222 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1961, when 199 boys got the name (#555 that year). First in the US records in 1914.

How common

• About 1 in 13,344 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 735 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,274 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WA (0.21 per 1,000 boys), MA (0.19 per 1,000 boys), IL (0.16 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Lenny is #1418 in the US and #141 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 67.7% of US babies named Lenny were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Leon2,583 US · 526 E&W
• Leone25 US · 4 E&W
• Lean16 US
• Lonny5 US
• Leonn5 US
• Leno5 US
• Leni0 US · 5 E&W
• Lenni0 US · 4 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Lenny

Boys

• Cash#287Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #287 vs #2,014 in 2025
• Beckham#168“homestead”^*
• Zayden#213Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 2000, with 11 babies
• Jude#155possibly “praised”^*
• Emerson#254Editor’s note Up from #300 in 2015 to #254 in 2025 in the US
• Charlie#145Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #22 vs #145 in 2025

For a sister

• Gia#287Editor’s note Up from #372 in 2015 to #287 in 2025 in the US
• Luciana#273Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #273 vs #1,809 in 2025
• Lyla#80Editor’s note Up from #141 in 2015 to #80 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 520 US girls in the 2025 records
• Liliana#78Form of Lilian, possibly meaning “lily”^*
• Eden#70possibly “steppe, garden”^*
• Stella#52“star”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Lenny’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.