Leon
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "lion".
Name Census estimates that about 96,015 living Americans carry the first name Leon. It sits at #141 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Leon today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leon births was 1924 (2,714 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leon. 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 Leon with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Leon is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,436 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
96K
~ 1 in 3,570 Americans
Peak year
1924
2,714 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#141
Tracked since 1880
Census
Leon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 81,000 people with the first name Leon, which placed it at #652 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
#652
National first-name rank
People counted
81K
81,000 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
26.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leon is White at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Black (31.9%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Leon 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 Leon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.2% · 39,056
- Black or African American31.9% · 25,802
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 7,809
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 4,224
- Two or more races3.7% · 2,964
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 1,145
Gender
Gender distribution for Leon
Out of the 181,458 babies given the name Leon since 1880, 99.2% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Leon as a male name
- Ranked #141 in 2024
- 2,547 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1924 (2,677 births)
Leon as a female name
- Ranked #13,007 in 2022
- 7 female births in 2022
- Peak: 1920 (42 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leon appears almost entirely male. Of the 80,997 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Leon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leon from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 25,891 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Leon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leon 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 Leon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Leon, while Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,354 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leon
The name Leon has its origins in the ancient Greek language, deriving from the word "leon" which means "lion." The name's roots can be traced back to the 5th century BC, when it was used to describe the majestic and powerful lion, a revered animal in Greek mythology and culture.
In ancient Greece, the name Leon was often given to male children born under the astrological sign of Leo, associated with the lion. The name symbolized strength, courage, and leadership qualities that were highly valued in Greek society. It was also believed that individuals with this name would possess the bravery and nobility of a lion.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Leon can be found in the works of ancient Greek historians and philosophers, such as Herodotus and Aristotle. They mention various individuals bearing this name, indicating its widespread use during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have carried the name Leon. One of the most famous was Leon I, also known as Leo the Great, who served as the Bishop of Rome from 440 to 461 AD. He is remembered for his influential theological writings and his role in defending Rome against the Huns led by Attila.
Another prominent Leon was Leon VI, the Byzantine Emperor who ruled from 886 to 912 AD. He was renowned for his efforts to revive the Byzantine Empire's military might and his patronage of the arts and sciences. His reign marked a period of cultural and intellectual renaissance in the Byzantine Empire.
In the medieval period, Leon was a popular name among European nobility and royalty. One example is Leon I of Armenia, who reigned as the King of Armenia from 1199 to 1219 AD. He is remembered for his efforts to strengthen the Armenian kingdom and his diplomatic relations with neighboring powers.
During the Renaissance, the name Leon gained further popularity, particularly in Italy. One notable figure from this era was Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), an Italian Renaissance humanist known for his contributions to architecture, art, and literature.
Another famous Leon was Leon Trotsky (1879-1940), a Marxist revolutionary and prominent figure in the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. He played a key role in the establishment of the Soviet Union and served as the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and the founder of the Red Army.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Leon
People
Leon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leon 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
Leon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 96,015 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leon 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 3,570 US residents.
Is Leon a common name?
We classify Leon as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 181,458 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leon most popular?
The single biggest year for Leon was 1924, when 2,714 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leon is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 81,000 people with the name Leon, or 26.82 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #652 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 Leon 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 Leon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leon appears almost entirely male. Of the 80,997 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Leon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leon is White at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Black (31.9%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Leon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.2% (39,056 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 Leon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leon a male name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Leon in the SSA data are male. 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 Leon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leon 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 Leon 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 named Leon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.