Leona
A feminine name derived from Latin meaning "lion" or "lioness".
Name Census estimates that about 26,650 living Americans carry the first name Leona. It sits at #488 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leona today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leona births was 1918 (3,346 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leona. 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 Leona with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Leona is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 294 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
27K
~ 1 in 12,861 Americans
Peak year
1918
3,346 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1942 SSA rank
#488
Tracked since 1880
Census
Leona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 30,300 people with the first name Leona, which placed it at #1,245 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
#1,245
National first-name rank
People counted
30K
30,300 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
10.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leona is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Leona 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 Leona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.7% · 22,038
- Black or African American12.9% · 3,907
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 1,337
- Two or more races4.3% · 1,305
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 1,051
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 662
Gender
Gender distribution for Leona
Out of the 112,894 babies given the name Leona since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Leona as a male name
- Ranked #2,216 in 1942
- 12 male births in 1942
- Peak: 1916 (17 births)
Leona as a female name
- Ranked #488 in 2024
- 624 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (3,335 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leona appears almost entirely female. Of the 30,291 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Leona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leona 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 26,133 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leona 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 Leona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Leona, while Alaska, Delaware, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,787 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leona
The name Leona has its origins in the Latin language. It is derived from the word "leo" which means lion. The name can be traced back to ancient Rome, where the lion was a symbol of strength, courage, and royalty.
In ancient Greek mythology, the lion was often associated with the sun god Helios. This connection may have contributed to the name's popularity, as it was seen as a powerful and auspicious name to bestow upon a child.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leona can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who mentions a woman named Leona who lived in the 2nd century BC. However, it is difficult to determine if this was a real person or a fictional character.
During the Middle Ages, the name Leona was relatively uncommon in Europe, but it did gain some popularity in certain regions. In the 12th century, a French noblewoman named Leona de Bourges was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of the crusades.
As the Renaissance period dawned, the name Leona began to experience a resurgence. One notable figure was the Italian artist Leona Battista Alberti (1404-1472), who was renowned for her contributions to architecture and her influential treatise on painting.
In the 19th century, the name Leona gained popularity in various parts of Europe and the Americas. One of the most famous bearers of the name was the Mexican poet and activist Leona Vicario (1789-1842), who played a crucial role in the Mexican War of Independence.
Another notable Leona was the American suffragist and social reformer Leona Gage (1839-1891), who campaigned tirelessly for women's rights and the abolition of slavery.
In the 20th century, the name Leona continued to be used around the world. One of the most celebrated individuals with this name was the American singer and actress Leona Mitchell (1949-1992), who achieved international fame for her portrayal of Nell Harper on the television series Gimme a Break!
People
Leona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leona 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
Leona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 26,650 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leona 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 12,861 US residents.
Is Leona a common name?
We classify Leona as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 112,894 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leona most popular?
The single biggest year for Leona was 1918, when 3,346 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leona is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 30,300 people with the name Leona, or 10.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,245 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 Leona 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 Leona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leona appears almost entirely female. Of the 30,291 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Leona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leona is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Leona most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.7% (22,038 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 Leona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leona a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Leona 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 Leona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leona 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 Leona 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 common is the name Leona?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Leona at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.