Leonel
Leonel was given to 942 boys in 2025, #350 among boys’ names; 27,072 Americans have been recorded with it since 1910 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 25,400 Americans named Leonel and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (94% of everyone recorded); the median is 15 years old and half are between 7 and 28.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Leonel by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Leonel mean?
Wiktionary, Spanish section
Leonel is “a male given name”
/leoˈnel/
Meaning: Wiktionary, Spanish section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Leonel?
#350 among boys’ names, 2025
Leonel rose from #389 in 2015 to #350 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.43 to 0.55 per 1,000.
1,084 babies in 2024, the peak
Leonel peaked in 2024, when 1,084 boys were given it, #317 among boys’ names. The 942 births of 2025 are 87% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 942 | #350 | 0.55 |
| 2024 | 1,084 | #317 | 0.63 |
| 2023 | 1,075 | #308 | 0.63 |
| 2022 | 1,032 | #327 | 0.59 |
| 2021 | 868 | #375 | 0.50 |
| 2020 | 929 | #345 | 0.54 |
| 2019 | 972 | #346 | 0.54 |
| 2018 | 923 | #358 | 0.51 |
| 2017 | 903 | #365 | 0.49 |
| 2016 | 891 | #373 | 0.47 |
Every recorded year (115)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 821 | #389 | 0.43 |
| 2014 | 709 | #430 | 0.37 |
| 2013 | 606 | #463 | 0.32 |
| 2012 | 618 | #445 | 0.33 |
| 2011 | 581 | #461 | 0.31 |
| 2010 | 594 | #451 | 0.31 |
| 2009 | 578 | #473 | 0.29 |
| 2008 | 572 | #484 | 0.28 |
| 2007 | 556 | #484 | 0.27 |
| 2006 | 578 | #467 | 0.28 |
| 2005 | 633 | #422 | 0.32 |
| 2004 | 535 | #471 | 0.27 |
| 2003 | 447 | #525 | 0.23 |
| 2002 | 407 | #545 | 0.21 |
| 2001 | 410 | #535 | 0.21 |
| 2000 | 423 | #524 | 0.22 |
| 1999 | 373 | #544 | 0.19 |
| 1998 | 351 | #562 | 0.18 |
| 1997 | 303 | #591 | 0.16 |
| 1996 | 325 | #563 | 0.17 |
| 1995 | 301 | #592 | 0.16 |
| 1994 | 320 | #576 | 0.17 |
| 1993 | 325 | #567 | 0.17 |
| 1992 | 320 | #569 | 0.16 |
| 1991 | 307 | #575 | 0.15 |
| 1990 | 266 | #618 | 0.13 |
| 1989 | 254 | #619 | 0.13 |
| 1988 | 221 | #642 | 0.12 |
| 1987 | 203 | #643 | 0.11 |
| 1986 | 206 | #624 | 0.11 |
| 1985 | 183 | #647 | 0.10 |
| 1984 | 168 | #670 | 0.09 |
| 1983 | 148 | #705 | 0.08 |
| 1982 | 177 | #655 | 0.10 |
| 1981 | 171 | #656 | 0.10 |
| 1980 | 155 | #699 | 0.09 |
| 1979 | 139 | #735 | 0.08 |
| 1978 | 129 | #747 | 0.08 |
| 1977 | 98 | #862 | 0.06 |
| 1976 | 117 | #772 | 0.07 |
| 1975 | 122 | #755 | 0.08 |
| 1974 | 102 | #794 | 0.06 |
| 1973 | 104 | #781 | 0.07 |
| 1972 | 87 | #864 | 0.05 |
| 1971 | 95 | #832 | 0.05 |
| 1970 | 90 | #852 | 0.05 |
| 1969 | 71 | #907 | 0.04 |
| 1968 | 65 | #894 | 0.04 |
| 1967 | 69 | #865 | 0.04 |
| 1966 | 63 | #923 | 0.04 |
| 1965 | 70 | #878 | 0.04 |
| 1964 | 75 | #888 | 0.04 |
| 1963 | 58 | #996 | 0.03 |
| 1962 | 48 | #1,113 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 50 | #1,111 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 64 | #947 | 0.03 |
| 1959 | 50 | #1,093 | 0.02 |
| 1958 | 61 | #973 | 0.03 |
| 1957 | 54 | #1,035 | 0.03 |
| 1956 | 44 | #1,149 | 0.02 |
| 1955 | 51 | #1,056 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 44 | #1,129 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 39 | #1,203 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 46 | #1,072 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 37 | #1,208 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 50 | #983 | 0.03 |
| 1949 | 59 | #900 | 0.03 |
| 1948 | 35 | #1,224 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 55 | #964 | 0.03 |
| 1946 | 36 | #1,170 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 34 | #1,136 | 0.03 |
| 1944 | 34 | #1,147 | 0.02 |
| 1943 | 32 | #1,234 | 0.02 |
| 1942 | 42 | #1,045 | 0.03 |
| 1941 | 36 | #1,099 | 0.03 |
| 1940 | 27 | #1,300 | 0.02 |
| 1939 | 46 | #924 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 26 | #1,325 | 0.02 |
| 1937 | 36 | #1,085 | 0.03 |
| 1936 | 31 | #1,197 | 0.03 |
| 1935 | 31 | #1,216 | 0.03 |
| 1934 | 37 | #1,085 | 0.04 |
| 1933 | 23 | #1,435 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 25 | #1,408 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 32 | #1,232 | 0.03 |
| 1930 | 37 | #1,165 | 0.03 |
| 1929 | 31 | #1,284 | 0.03 |
| 1928 | 20 | #1,738 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 32 | #1,315 | 0.03 |
| 1926 | 26 | #1,450 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 23 | #1,609 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 31 | #1,346 | 0.03 |
| 1923 | 13 | #2,396 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 36 | #1,212 | 0.03 |
| 1921 | 26 | #1,496 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 28 | #1,407 | 0.03 |
| 1919 | 20 | #1,732 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 21 | #1,683 | 0.02 |
| 1917 | 10 | #2,647 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 19 | #1,671 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 23 | #1,437 | 0.03 |
| 1914 | 16 | #1,583 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 11 | #1,751 | 0.02 |
| 1911 | 6 | #1,650 | 0.03 |
| 1910 | 5 | #1,741 | 0.03 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Leonel a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Leonel has been given almost only to boys: 5 girls in 115 years of records.
Girls and boys named Leonel: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Leonel, and how old are they?
25,400 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 94% of the 27,072 Americans ever recorded as Leonel. The median Leonel alive today is 15 years old; half are between 7 and 28.
The 2020 Census counted 28,890 people named Leonel (86 women and girls, 28,804 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 20,050 born in the U.S. The Census count is 44% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 118 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 641 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,400 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 3,720 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 7,840 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 11,700 |
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 Leonel born?
The states with the most babies named Leonel are Texas, California and Arizona, with 57% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Arizona is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 243 | #155 | 2.9× |
| California | 220 | #181 | 2.2× |
| Arizona | 59 | #151 | 1.9× |
| Florida | 41 | #454 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 39 | #284 | 1.1× |
| New York | 29 | #553 | 0.5× |
| Colorado | 25 | #267 | 1.1× |
| Georgia | 24 | #458 | 0.5× |
| Washington | 18 | #414 | 0.8× |
| North Carolina | 18 | #556 | 0.5× |
Where Leonel is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Leonel is most over-represented in Texas: since 1910 it was given 2.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
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 Leonel 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 5 names spelled alike, given to 28,359 babies since 1880, Leonel is the most given (95% of them). In 2025 it was given to 942 of their 958 babies (98%), again the most given.
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 Leonel
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
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 Leonel and names like it
- Compare Leonel and LenellBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sLeonel peaked in 2024.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Leonel since 1910.
- Spanish namesWiktionary’s origin for Leonel: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2024The year the most babies were named Leonel.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Leonel alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with LMost given first.