Leonidas

What Leonidas means

Means “son of Leon / lion”

From Ancient Greek Λεωνίδᾱς (Leōnídās, “son of Leon / lion”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Leonidas” (revision 90570467), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Leonidas?

US: Steady: #518 in 2015, #510 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #571 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2022, when 760 boys got the name (#421 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 2,890 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 3,199 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 6,547 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 HI (2.06 per 1,000 boys), NM (1.23 per 1,000 boys), CO (0.82 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Leonidas is #510 in the US and #452 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 Leonidas were boys.

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

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Leonides11 US

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 Leonidas

Boys

• Azariah#472“Yah Has Helped”^*
• Theo#82Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #405 in 2015, #82 in 2025
• Niko#325Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1962, with 5 babies
• Leon#138“lion”^*
• Orion#334possibly “heaven's light”^*
• Theodore#4Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #99 in 2015, #4 in 2025

For a sister

• Lena#279“the Large River”^*
• Penelope#22possibly “duck”^*
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Cora#113“maiden”^*
• Athena#109Editor’s note Up from #157 in 2015 to #109 in 2025 in the US
• Ophelia#264possibly “help, aid, succour”^*

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