Leeza
A feminine name derived from Elizabeth, of Hebrew origin meaning "consecrated to God".
Name Census estimates that about 833 living Americans carry the first name Leeza. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leeza today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leeza births was 1994 (108 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leeza. 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 Leeza with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
833
~ 1 in 411,470 Americans
Peak year
1994
108 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2021 SSA rank
#14,484
Tracked since 1956
Census
Leeza in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 986 people with the first name Leeza, which placed it at #12,575 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
#12,575
National first-name rank
People counted
986
986 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leeza
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leeza is White at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.0%). 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 Leeza 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 Leeza at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.8% · 491
- Hispanic or Latino17.2% · 170
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.0% · 138
- Black or African American12.5% · 123
- Two or more races5.6% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 9
Popularity
Leeza: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leeza from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 529 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leeza 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 Leeza during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leezas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Leeza, while Ohio, North Carolina, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leeza
The name Leeza is thought to have originated from the Persian language, derived from the name Liza, which itself is a diminutive form of the name Elizabeth. The earliest known use of the name Leeza dates back to the late 19th century in parts of the Middle East and Central Asia.
While the exact etymology is unclear, some scholars suggest that Leeza could be a variation of the Arabic name Layla, meaning "night" or "born at night." Others believe it may have roots in the Persian word "leezeh," which means "graceful" or "elegant."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leeza can be found in the writings of Persian poet Hakim Abol-Qasem Ferdowsi, who lived from around 940 to 1020 AD. In his epic poem, the Shahnameh, a character named Leeza is mentioned as a beautiful and virtuous woman.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Leeza. One of the earliest was Leeza of Qazvin (c. 1150-1220), a renowned Persian poet and scholar who wrote extensively on various subjects, including philosophy and astronomy.
In the 13th century, Leeza al-Amir was a influential Arab mathematician and astronomer from Damascus. She is credited with making significant contributions to the development of trigonometry and the study of celestial mechanics.
During the Renaissance period, Leeza Rossi (1508-1564) was an Italian painter and artist from Florence, known for her exceptional portrait work and her association with the Medici family.
In more recent times, Leeza Gibbons (born 1957) is an American television personality and entrepreneur who hosted popular shows like "Entertainment Tonight" and won an Emmy for her work on the show "Leeza."
Another notable figure is Leeza Mangaldas (born 1974), an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who has performed extensively and worked to preserve and promote the art of Bharatanatyam dance.
People
Leeza + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leeza 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
Leeza: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leeza?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 833 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leeza 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 411,470 US residents.
Is Leeza a common name?
We classify Leeza as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 868 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leeza most popular?
The single biggest year for Leeza was 1994, when 108 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leeza is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leeza in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 986 people with the name Leeza, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,575 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 Leeza 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 Leeza?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leeza appears almost entirely female. Of the 992 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Leeza?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leeza is White at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.0%). 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 Leeza most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leeza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.8% (491 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 Leeza in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leeza a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leeza 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 Leeza still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leeza 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 Leeza 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 Americans are named Leeza?
See how many Americans are named Leeza on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.