Leane
A feminine variant of the French name Léanne meaning "light" or "shining".
Name Census estimates that about 439 living Americans carry the first name Leane. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leane today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leane births was 1964 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leane. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Leane with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
439
~ 1 in 780,762 Americans
Peak year
1964
21 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2017 SSA rank
#15,145
Tracked since 1937
Census
Leane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 628 people with the first name Leane, which placed it at #17,522 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#17,522
National first-name rank
People counted
628
628 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leane is White at 74.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Leane described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Leane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.4% · 467
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.5% · 47
- Black or African American4.8% · 30
- Two or more races4.3% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Popularity
Leane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leane from the 1930s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 161 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leane by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Leane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leanes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Leane
The name Leane is believed to have originated from the Old English word "leán," which means "fallow" or "untilled land." It is also thought to be related to the Old Norse word "lén," which refers to a grant of land or a fief. This suggests that the name may have been associated with agricultural or landowning traditions in ancient Germanic societies.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leane can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conquer. In this historical record, the name appears as "Lena," which is likely a variant spelling of Leane.
During the Middle Ages, the name Leane gained popularity among the nobility and gentry in England and Scotland. One notable figure from this period was Leane de Montfort, a 13th-century English noblewoman who was married to Simon de Montfort, a prominent leader during the Second Barons' War against King Henry III.
In the 16th century, the name Leane was associated with the Protestant Reformation. Leane Ames, an English Puritan and religious writer, was born around 1576 and is known for her work "A Modest Parallel" (1621), which defended the rights of women in the church.
Another notable figure bearing the name Leane was Leane Richmond, an 18th-century English writer and philanthropist. Born in 1772, she was best known for her work "The Dairyman's Daughter," a religious tract that became widely popular during the evangelical movement.
In the 19th century, the name Leane was adopted by various artists and writers. Leane Hassall, an English painter and illustrator born in 1834, was renowned for her depictions of children and rural scenes. Leane Ritchie, a Scottish novelist born in 1800, was celebrated for her works portraying the lives of ordinary people in Scotland.
While the name Leane has its roots in ancient Germanic languages, it has since been embraced by various cultures and societies throughout history. Its association with themes of land, nobility, and religious movements has contributed to its enduring appeal and historical significance.
People
Leane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leane as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Leane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 439 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leane going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 780,762 US residents.
Is Leane a common name?
We classify Leane as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 520 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leane most popular?
The single biggest year for Leane was 1964, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leane is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 628 people with the name Leane, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,522 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Leane in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Leane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leane leans strongly female. 626 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Leane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leane is White at 74.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Leane most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.4% (467 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Leane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leane a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leane in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Leane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leane in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Leane can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Leane?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Leane, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.