Leonidas
A Greek masculine name derived from "leon" meaning lion.
Name Census estimates that about 9,095 living Americans carry the first name Leonidas. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Leonidas today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leonidas births was 2022 (758 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leonidas. 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 Leonidas with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Leonidas is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
9.1K
~ 1 in 37,686 Americans
Peak year
2022
758 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#508
Tracked since 1880
Census
Leonidas in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,478 people with the first name Leonidas, which placed it at #3,295 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
#3,295
National first-name rank
People counted
6.5K
6,478 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
47.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leonidas
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leonidas is Hispanic at 47.4%. The next largest groups are White (38.6%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Leonidas 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 Leonidas at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino47.4% · 3,068
- White38.6% · 2,501
- Two or more races6.0% · 387
- Black or African American4.0% · 262
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 214
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 46
Popularity
Leonidas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leonidas from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,478 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leonidas remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leonidas 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 Leonidas during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leonidas' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Leonidas, while South Dakota, Montana, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 178 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leonidas
The name Leonidas originates from the Greek language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek words "leon" meaning lion and "idas" which is a common ending used in Greek names. The name essentially translates to "son of the lion" or "lion-like."
Leonidas is perhaps most famously associated with Leonidas I, the legendary king of the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta. He is renowned for leading the Spartan army in the Battle of Thermopylae against the invading Persian forces in 480 BC. Despite being vastly outnumbered, Leonidas and his small contingent of Spartan warriors fiercely resisted the Persian army for several days, ultimately sacrificing their lives in the process. This act of bravery and resistance has become a symbol of courage and defiance in the face of overwhelming odds.
The name Leonidas can be traced back to ancient Greek literature and historical texts. It appears in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who documented the Persian Wars and the heroic stand of Leonidas and his Spartan warriors at Thermopylae. The name is also mentioned in various ancient Greek plays and poems, reflecting its cultural significance.
Beyond the famous Spartan king, other notable historical figures bearing the name Leonidas include Leonidas of Rhodes, a celebrated ancient Greek sculptor from the 1st century BC, known for his exceptional sculptures of the Laocoon Group and the Farnese Bull. Leonidas of Alexandria was a renowned ancient Greek poet and scholar who lived in the 3rd century BC and was part of the intellectual community at the Library of Alexandria.
In more recent times, Leonidas Holm was a Swedish-American painter and illustrator born in 1858, renowned for his landscape paintings and illustrations depicting the American West. Leonidas Merritt was an American naval officer and civil engineer born in 1870, who played a crucial role in the construction of the Panama Canal.
The name Leonidas has endured through the ages, carrying a rich cultural heritage and associations with bravery, courage, and artistic excellence. Its Greek origins and historical connections to figures like the legendary Spartan king have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance across various cultures and time periods.
People
Leonidas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leonidas 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
Leonidas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leonidas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,095 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leonidas 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 37,686 US residents.
Is Leonidas a common name?
We classify Leonidas as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,686 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leonidas most popular?
The single biggest year for Leonidas was 2022, when 758 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leonidas is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leonidas in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,478 people with the name Leonidas, or 2.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,295 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 Leonidas 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 Leonidas?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leonidas leans strongly male. 6,000 people counted with this name were male (92.6%), compared with 476 female bearers (7.4%). 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 Leonidas?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leonidas is Hispanic at 47.4%. The next largest groups are White (38.6%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Leonidas most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Leonidas in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.4% (3,068 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 Leonidas in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leonidas a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leonidas 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 Leonidas still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leonidas 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 Leonidas 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 Leonidas?
See how many people share the name Leonidas on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.