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NameAlmanac

Leon

Boys’ name Recorded 1880-2025

Leon was given to 2,583 boys in 2025, #138 among boys’ names; 184,074 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).

An estimated 90,300 Americans named Leon and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (49% of everyone recorded); the median is 49 years old and half are between 13 and 70.

Babies named Leon each year, first recorded in 1880
Leon, 1880-2025; highest in 1924.1k2k3k188019001920194019601980200020251924 peak: 2,714
Leon, 1880-2025; highest in 1924.1k2k3k188019001920194019601980200020251924 peak: 2,714
Leon, 1880-2025; highest in 1924.1k2k3k18801905193019551980200520251924 peak: 2,714
Leon, 1880-2025; highest in 1924.1k2k3k18801930198020251924 peak: 2,714

Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).

Leon or LenNames of the 1920sNames in New York

Births of Leon by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

What does Leon mean?

Wiktionary, English section

Leon is “a male given name from Latin or Ancient Greek.” Its etymology gives the senses “lion” (leo) and “lion” (λέων).

Ultimately from Latin Leo and leo (“lion”), from Ancient Greek Λέων (Léōn) and λέων (léōn, “lion”), likely ultimately from a non-Indo-European language. Sometimes via other related languages such as French Léon and sometimes as a diminutive of related names such as Leonard and Leonardo.

/ˈli.ɑn/

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary, entry Leon (English), CC BY‑SA 4.0. Quoted from the entry; text after a cross-reference to another sense is left out.

Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).

How popular is Leon?

#138 among boys’ names, 2025

Leon rose from #314 in 2015 to #138 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.59 to 1.5 per 1,000.

2,714 babies in 1924, the peak

Leon peaked in 1924, when 2,714 babies were given it (2,677 boys, #76 among boys’ names). The 2,583 births of 2025 are 95% of that peak.

Leon by year
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 boys
20252,583#1381.5
20242,572#1411.5
20232,459#1481.4
20222,374#1581.4
20212,198#1771.3
20201,924#1961.1
20191,866#2081.0
20181,605#2380.88
20171,518#2440.82
20161,313#2770.69
Every recorded year (146)
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 boys
20151,140#3140.59
20141,081#3210.56
20131,021#3240.54
2012859#3560.45
2011696#4060.37
2010669#4180.35
2009628#4450.32
2008549#4990.27
2007543#4880.26
2006517#5020.25
2005470#5240.24
2004462#5200.23
2003495#4970.25
2002472#4890.24
2001469#4900.24
2000457#5000.23
1999463#4800.24
1998460#4760.24
1997436#4890.23
1996473#4580.25
1995503#4520.26
1994544#4220.28
1993531#4250.27
1992591#3880.30
1991581#3910.29
1990594#3890.29
1989647#3510.32
1988675#3200.35
1987662#3180.35
1986688#2990.37
1985727#2830.39
1984797#2630.44
1983784#2640.44
1982874#2530.48
1981869#2530.49
1980904#2480.51
1979907#2420.53
1978924#2280.56
1977948#2290.58
1976924#2210.59
1975884#2330.57
1974973#2190.62
19731,008#2170.65
19721,024#2180.63
19711,040#2270.59
19701,222#2070.66
19691,151#2130.64
19681,197#1960.69
19671,198#1950.69
19661,308#1870.73
19651,263#1990.68
19641,482#1900.74
19631,477#2010.73
19621,542#1960.75
19611,558#1940.73
19601,647#1890.77
19591,748#1760.82
19581,932#1630.91
19571,888#1660.88
19562,043#1541.0
19552,141#1431.0
19542,146#1401.1
19532,273#1371.2
19522,377#1241.2
19512,366#1221.3
19502,427#1191.4
19492,425#1211.4
19482,384#1191.4
19472,487#1171.4
19462,339#1131.4
19452,098#1111.6
19442,151#1081.6
19432,451#1031.7
19422,550#931.8
19412,375#931.9
19402,318#892.0
19392,327#862.1
19382,355#852.1
19372,325#852.2
19362,282#822.2
19352,282#862.2
19342,306#872.2
19332,187#852.2
19322,295#832.2
19312,245#842.2
19302,401#812.2
19292,336#812.2
19282,460#812.2
19272,602#782.3
19262,647#732.4
19252,636#762.4
19242,677#762.4
19232,528#772.3
19222,521#772.3
19212,616#742.4
19202,554#752.4
19192,250#802.3
19182,442#772.4
19172,102#822.3
19161,954#852.2
19151,977#822.3
19141,414#852.2
19131,160#812.3
19121,006#792.3
1911540#772.4
1910435#812.2
1909377#802.3
1908327#842.1
1907324#802.2
1906263#872.0
1905274#872.1
1904241#901.9
1903287#762.4
1902248#862.0
1901208#872.0
1900310#852.1
1899188#931.8
1898251#832.0
1897229#812.0
1896235#862.0
1895219#871.9
1894236#842.0
1893211#881.9
1892187#1011.5
1891150#1041.5
1890197#871.8
1889184#941.7
1888196#901.6
1887147#991.4
1886142#1091.3
1885146#991.4
1884150#1031.3
1883140#971.3
1882131#1141.2
1881121#1041.2
1880118#1141.1

Download Leon’s births by year (CSV)

Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.

Is Leon a boy’s or a girl’s name?

Leon has been given almost only to boys: 1,436 girls in 146 years of records.

Girls and boys named Leon: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.

How many people are named Leon, and how old are they?

90,300 alive in 2026, estimated

That is 49% of the 184,074 Americans ever recorded as Leon. The median Leon alive today is 49 years old; half are between 13 and 70.

The 2020 Census counted 80,997 people named Leon (326 women and girls, 80,671 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 88,302 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% below that prediction.

Alive today, by age

100-10946
90-991,560
80-897,610
70-7913,800
60-6912,100
50-599,320
40-49 (median)7,820
30-395,550
20-294,610
10-198,420
0-919,000

Alive today, by generation

By generation
GenerationBornAlive
Silent Generation1928-19458,100
Baby Boomers1946-196425,100
Generation X1965-198015,000
Millennials1981-199610,100
Generation Z1997-20128,510
Generation Alpha2013-202523,500

An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.

Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).

Where are babies named Leon born?

The states with the most babies named Leon are New York, Texas and California, with 22% of its births recorded by state since 1910.

States with the most births: girls and boys together; rank among boys’ names in the state in 2025
StateSince 1910Rank, boysvs. national
New York15,258#951.0×
Texas11,495#1460.9×
California11,115#960.8×
Pennsylvania10,306#1490.9×
Illinois7,320#1400.8×
Michigan6,730#1381.0×
Georgia6,575#2431.3×
Florida6,323#1401.3×
Louisiana6,114#3271.7×
Alabama6,087#3681.5×

Where Leon is more common than its national share predicts

Relative to its national share, Leon is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 1.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.

Louisiana1.74×
South Carolina1.59×
Mississippi1.58×
Alabama1.52×
District of Columbia1.45×
Arkansas1.40×
Oklahoma1.39×
Florida1.32×

Bars start at 1× (as often as the national share predicts).

States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Leon with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.

Names spelled alike

Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 193,018 babies since 1880, Leon is the most given (95% of them). In 2025 it was given to 2,583 of their 2,643 babies (98%), again the most given.

Leon and the names spelled alike
NameSince 1880Births 2025Peak year
Leon184,0742,5831924
Len4,61681958
Lenin1,727432018
Lelan92492007
Lenn521under 51950
Lenon518under 51932
Lelon437under 51922
Lealon201under 51921

Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.

Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Leon

Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.

NameRecorded1880-2025
Everette11,584
Boyd27,745
Alvin162,512
Gilbert130,821
Leonard295,746
Laurence40,215

Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

More about Leon and names like it

  1. Compare Leon and LenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
  2. The most given names of the 1920sLeon peaked in 1924.
  3. New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Leon since 1910.
  4. Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Leon: every such name, by how often it is given.
  5. The top names of 1924The year the most babies were named Leon.
  6. The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Leon alive today were born 1946-1964.
  7. Names starting with LMost given first.

Compare Leon with another name