Leonardo

What Leonardo means

Italian, from Old French Leonard, meaning “as strong as a lion”

From Old French Leonard, name of a 6th century Frankish saint, from Old High German Leonhart (literally “as strong as a lion”), from leo (“lion”) and hart (“hard, strong”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Leonardo” (revision 94541120), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Leonardo?

US: Rising: up from #103 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #160 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2022, when 4,367 boys got the name (#75 that year). First in the US records in 1885.

How common

• About 1 in 451 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 699 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,511 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 NV (5.67 per 1,000 boys), CA (4.78 per 1,000 boys), AZ (4.46 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Leonardo is #91 in the US and #126 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 Leonardo were boys.

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

If you like Leonardo

Boys

• Luca#14Form of Lucy, meaning “light”^*
• Mateo#8Same root as Matthew, meaning “gift of the Lord”^*
• Enzo#72“home + ruler”^*
• Alessandro#497Italian form of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Maximo#580Editor’s note Up from #853 in 2015 to #580 in 2025 in the US
• Vincenzo#674Italian form of Vincent, meaning “conquering”^*

For a sister

• Luciana#273Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #273 vs #1,809 in 2025
• Gia#287Editor’s note Up from #372 in 2015 to #287 in 2025 in the US
• Valentina#35Same root as Valentine, meaning “strong, healthy”^*
• Ximena#183Basque, meaning “son”^*
• Elena#42Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #106 in 2015, #42 in 2025. 5 letters, starting with a vowel
• Alessandra#443Italian form of Alexandra, meaning “to defend + man”^*

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