Leon

What Leon means

Means “lion”

Ultimately from Latin Leo and leo (“lion”), from Ancient Greek Λέων (Léōn) and λέων (léōn, “lion”), likely ultimately from a non-Indo-European language.

Source: Wiktionary, “Leon” (revision 94586513), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Leon?

US: Rising: up from #314 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #85 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1918, when 2,442 boys got the name (#77 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 661 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 517 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 357 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 (6.6 per 1,000 boys), HI (3.77 per 1,000 boys), AK (3.08 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Leon is #138 in the US and #101 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Leon 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

• Lian752 US · 14 E&W
• Lenny128 US · 370 E&W
• Luan166 US · 70 E&W
• Lion37 US · 3 E&W
• Leone25 US · 4 E&W
• Lean16 US
• Leeon9 US
• Luen0 US · 8 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 Leon

Boys

• Theodore#4Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #99 in 2015, #4 in 2025
• Niko#325Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1962, with 5 babies
• Felix#175“happy, lucky”^*
• Theo#82Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #405 in 2015, #82 in 2025
• Evander#698“good man”^*
• Ambrose#735“immortal, divine”^*

For a sister

• Rosemary#251“dew of the sea”^*
• Mabel#201“lovable”^*
• Florence#391“flowering, flourishing”^*
• Ophelia#264possibly “help, aid, succour”^*
• Theodora#725“God s Gift”^*
• Aura#817“breeze”^*

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