Leili
A Persian name meaning "night beauty" or "glow of night".
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the first name Leili. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leili today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leili births was 2020 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leili. 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.
People living today
116
~ 1 in 2,954,779 Americans
Peak year
2020
11 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,667
Tracked since 1998
Census
Leili in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 324 people with the first name Leili, which placed it at #27,953 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
#27,953
National first-name rank
People counted
324
324 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leili
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leili is White at 57.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.1%) and Two or More Races (11.4%). 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 Leili 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 Leili at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.1% · 185
- Hispanic or Latino20.1% · 65
- Two or more races11.4% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.6% · 31
- Black or African American1.9% · 6
Popularity
Leili: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leili from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 48 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Leili remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leili 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 Leili during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leili
The name Leili has its origins in the Persian language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Persian word "leli," which means "born at night" or "night-blooming flower." This name has been popular in Iran and among Persian communities around the world for centuries.
In Persian literature, the name Leili is often associated with the famous love story of Leili and Majnun, a tragic romance that has been celebrated in poetry and literature for over a thousand years. The story is believed to have originated in the 7th century and has been retold and reinterpreted by countless poets and writers throughout the ages.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Leili can be found in the works of the renowned Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi, who lived in the 12th century. His epic poem "Khosrow and Shirin" includes a character named Leili, who is described as a beautiful and virtuous woman.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Leili. One of the most famous was Leili Anvar (1906-1992), an Iranian painter and sculptor who was a pioneer of modern art in Iran. Her works are celebrated for their bold use of color and their exploration of traditional Persian themes.
Another prominent figure was Leili Haratounian (1913-1989), an Iranian-Armenian writer and translator who played a significant role in introducing Western literature to Iranian audiences. She translated works by authors such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and William Faulkner into Persian.
In the realm of politics, Leili Rashidi (born 1939) was a prominent Iranian politician and activist who served as the first female minister in Iran's post-revolutionary government in the late 1970s. She was a vocal advocate for women's rights and played a crucial role in shaping the country's policies during a turbulent period.
Leili Anitzor (1942-2021) was a renowned Iranian-American artist and sculptor whose works explored themes of identity, displacement, and cultural fusion. Her sculptures, often incorporating found objects and mixed media, were celebrated for their unique blend of Eastern and Western influences.
Finally, Leili Towfigh (born 1954) is an Iranian-American author and filmmaker known for her works that explore the experiences of Iranian immigrants and the challenges of navigating cultural identities. Her novels and films have received critical acclaim and have contributed to a greater understanding of the Iranian diaspora experience.
These individuals, spanning different eras and fields, exemplify the rich cultural heritage and diverse contributions associated with the name Leili throughout history.
People
Leili + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leili 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
Leili: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leili?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 116 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leili 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 2,954,779 US residents.
Is Leili a common name?
We classify Leili as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 117 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leili most popular?
The single biggest year for Leili was 2020, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leili is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leili in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 324 people with the name Leili, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,953 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 Leili 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 Leili?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leili leans strongly female. 315 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 9 male bearers (2.8%). 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 Leili?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leili is White at 57.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.1%) and Two or More Races (11.4%). 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 Leili most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leili in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.1% (185 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 Leili in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leili a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leili 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 Leili still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leili 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 Leili 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 Leili as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Leili on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.