Leone
An Italian masculine name derived from the word for lion.
Name Census estimates that about 1,024 living Americans carry the first name Leone. It is a predominantly female name (93.5% of registrations). The average person named Leone today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leone births was 1916 (262 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leone. 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 Leone with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Leone was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 334,721 Americans
Peak year
1916
262 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,494
Tracked since 1880
Census
Leone in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,815 people with the first name Leone, which placed it at #8,095 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
#8,095
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,815 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leone
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leone is White at 71.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.5%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Leone 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 Leone at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.3% · 1,295
- Black or African American10.5% · 191
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 147
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.2% · 112
- Two or more races3.3% · 59
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Leone
Leone leans heavily female at 93.5% of total registrations, but 430 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Leone as a male name
- Ranked #4,494 in 2024
- 23 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (25 births)
Leone as a female name
- Ranked #16,596 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1916 (253 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Leone on both sides of the split. Of the 1,813 people counted with this name, 467 were male (25.8%) and 1,346 were female (74.2%).
Popularity
Leone: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leone from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 1,863 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leone 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 Leone during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leones live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan recorded the most babies named Leone, while West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 108 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leone
The name Leone has its origins in the Italian language, derived from the Latin name Leo, which means "lion." It is a masculine given name that has been in use since ancient times.
In ancient Roman culture, the lion was a symbol of strength, courage, and nobility. The name Leo was frequently given to male children, particularly among the upper classes and nobility. Over time, the name evolved into various forms, with Leone becoming a common variant used in Italy.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Leone can be found in the works of Roman historian Suetonius, who mentioned a man named Leone in his writings from the 2nd century AD. The name also appears in various medieval Italian texts and records, indicating its continued popularity throughout the centuries.
In the Christian tradition, the name Leone has been associated with several notable figures. One of the most famous was Pope Leo I, also known as Pope Saint Leo the Great, who served as the Bishop of Rome from 440 to 461 AD. He is renowned for his theological writings and his efforts to defend the doctrine of the Incarnation against heresies.
Another prominent figure bearing the name Leone was Leone Battista Alberti (1404-1472), an Italian Renaissance humanist, author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer. He made significant contributions to various fields, including architecture, art theory, and cryptography.
In the realm of literature, Leone Ebreo (c. 1460-c. 1535) was a Jewish philosopher and poet who wrote in Italian and Hebrew. His most famous work, "Dialogues of Love," explored the concept of love from a Neoplatonic perspective and had a significant influence on Renaissance thought.
Leone Leoni (c. 1509-1590) was a renowned Italian sculptor and medalist during the Renaissance period. He is best known for his portrait busts and medals depicting prominent figures of his time, including Emperor Charles V and Pope Paul III.
Finally, Leone Caetani (1869-1935) was an Italian prince, historian, and archaeologist. He is celebrated for his extensive research on the history of the Islamic world, particularly his monumental work "Annali dell'Islam," a comprehensive chronicle of the early Islamic era.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Leone throughout history, highlighting its enduring presence across various cultural and historical contexts.
People
Leone + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leone 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
Leone: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leone?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,024 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leone 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 334,721 US residents.
Is Leone a common name?
We classify Leone as "Rare". It ranks above 90.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,605 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leone most popular?
The single biggest year for Leone was 1916, when 262 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leone 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 Leone in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,815 people with the name Leone, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,095 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 Leone 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 Leone?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Leone on both sides of the split. Of the 1,813 people counted with this name, 467 were male (25.8%) and 1,346 were female (74.2%). 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 Leone?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leone is White at 71.3%. The next largest groups are Black (10.5%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 Leone most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leone in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.3% (1,295 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 Leone in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leone a female name?
Yes, 93.5% of people registered as Leone 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 Leone still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leone 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 Leone 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 the name Leone?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Leone, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.