Leira
A feminine name of Norse origin meaning "light blue".
Name Census estimates that about 409 living Americans carry the first name Leira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leira today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leira births was 2017 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leira. 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
409
~ 1 in 838,030 Americans
Peak year
2017
28 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,264
Tracked since 1992
Census
Leira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 492 people with the first name Leira, which placed it at #20,854 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
#20,854
National first-name rank
People counted
492
492 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
57.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leira is Hispanic at 57.7%. The next largest groups are White (20.5%) and Black (11.2%). 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 Leira 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 Leira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino57.7% · 284
- White20.5% · 101
- Black or African American11.2% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.1% · 35
- Two or more races3.0% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Leira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leira from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 207 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leira remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leira 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 Leira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leiras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Leira
The name Leira is an ancient one with roots that can be traced back to the Celtic languages of Western Europe. Its origins are believed to lie in the Old Irish word "leir," which means "sea" or "ocean." This connection to the vast waters of the world suggests that the name may have initially been given to those who lived near the coasts or made their living from the sea.
In its earliest recorded forms, the name appeared as "Lera" or "Lera" in ancient Irish texts and manuscripts dating back to the 5th century AD. These early references often depicted individuals with this name as having a strong connection to the natural world and a deep respect for the power and majesty of the oceans.
As the centuries passed, the name Leira spread beyond the shores of Ireland and across various parts of Europe. In the 9th century, a notable figure named Leira of Saxony was recorded as a prominent abbess and scholar who played a significant role in the preservation of ancient texts and the promotion of learning during the Carolingian Renaissance.
During the Middle Ages, the name Leira gained popularity among the nobility and ruling classes of various European kingdoms. One notable bearer was Leira of Aquitaine, a 12th-century noblewoman renowned for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in the cultural and political affairs of her time.
In the realm of literature, the name Leira found its way into the works of several renowned authors. In the 16th century, the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes included a character named Leira in his famous novel "Don Quixote," depicting her as a brave and resourceful woman who played a pivotal role in the story's adventures.
As the centuries progressed, the name Leira continued to be carried by notable figures across various fields. In the 18th century, Leira Montagu was a prominent English author and social reformer who championed the rights of women and advocated for educational opportunities for all.
Moving into the 19th century, Leira Delaney was an Irish-American artist and philanthropist whose paintings captured the beauty of the natural world and whose charitable works helped improve the lives of many in her community.
People
Leira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leira 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
Leira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 409 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leira 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 838,030 US residents.
Is Leira a common name?
We classify Leira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 413 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leira most popular?
The single biggest year for Leira was 2017, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leira is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 492 people with the name Leira, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,854 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 Leira 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 Leira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leira leans strongly female. 489 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Leira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leira is Hispanic at 57.7%. The next largest groups are White (20.5%) and Black (11.2%). 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 Leira most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Leira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.7% (284 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 Leira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leira 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 Leira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leira 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 Leira 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 are called Leira?
You can see how many Americans are named Leira on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.