Leo

What Leo means

Means “lion”

From Latin leō (“lion”), calque of Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), calque of Akkadian 𒉈𒍑 (nēšu) / Akkadian 𒌨𒄞𒆷 (urgulû), from Sumerian 𒌨𒄞𒆷 (UR.GU.LA, “lion; name of constellation”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Leo” (revision 94541134), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Leo?

US: Rising: up from #91 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #15 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1903, when 636 boys got the name (#37 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 209 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 83 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 83 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 VT (14.85 per 1,000 boys), DC (10.68 per 1,000 boys), SD (10.41 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Leo is #19 in the US and #3 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.7% of US babies named Leo 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

• Lio28 US · 9 E&W
• Lewy0 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.

Nicknames

• Lee

Listed on Wiktionary under “pet forms”.

If you like Leo

Boys

• Roman#42Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #102 in 2015, #42 in 2025
• Bennett#40Form of Benedict, meaning “blessed, well spoken of”^*
• Cassius#582Editor’s note Up from #644 in 2015 to #582 in 2025 in the US
• Augustus#407“majestic, venerable”^*
• August#81“month of August”^*
• Felix#175“happy, lucky”^*

For a sister

• Emilia#45Variant of Emily, meaning “rival, emulator”^*
• Aurora#15Italian, from Latin Aurōra, meaning “dawn, sunrise”^*
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Nova#46“new”^*
• Lucille#237Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1920, with 7,989 babies; 1,314 in 2025
• Lucia#83Variant of Lucy, meaning “light”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Leo’s. Rank is US 2025.