Leonila
A feminine Spanish name derived from the Greek name Leonie, meaning "lioness".
Name Census estimates that about 182 living Americans carry the first name Leonila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leonila today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leonila births was 1936 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leonila. 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
182
~ 1 in 1,883,266 Americans
Peak year
1936
15 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,753
Tracked since 1922
Census
Leonila in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,821 people with the first name Leonila, which placed it at #5,878 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
#5,878
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,821 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
57.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leonila
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leonila is Hispanic at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (41.3%) and White (1.1%). 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 Leonila 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 Leonila at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino57.0% · 1,608
- Asian and Pacific Islander41.3% · 1,166
- White1.1% · 30
- Two or more races0.4% · 11
- Black or African American0.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Leonila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leonila from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 64 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leonila 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 Leonila during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leonilas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Leonila
The name Leonila has its origins in the Spanish language, derived from the Latin name Leonila, which itself is a combination of the Latin words "leo" meaning lion and "lilia" meaning lily. This name was first recorded in use during the Middle Ages in Spain and Portugal.
The name Leonila was likely inspired by the symbolism of the lion, representing strength, courage, and nobility, combined with the lily, a symbol of purity and grace. It was a popular name among the Spanish and Portuguese nobility during this time period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leonila can be found in the 13th-century Spanish epic poem, "El Cantar de Mio Cid," where a character named Leonila appears. This suggests that the name was in use in Spain as early as the 12th or 13th century.
In the 16th century, there is a record of a Spanish noblewoman named Leonila de Guzmán, who lived from 1510 to 1576. She was known for her literary works and her patronage of the arts.
Another notable figure with the name Leonila was Leonila Zamora (1887-1976), a Mexican writer and journalist who was a pioneer in the feminist movement in Mexico during the early 20th century.
Leonila Preciada (1896-1976) was a Colombian sculptor and painter, known for her works depicting indigenous themes and her contributions to the Colombian art scene in the early to mid-20th century.
In the 19th century, Leonila Huerta (1833-1910) was a Mexican nun and educator who founded several schools for girls in Mexico City and played a significant role in promoting education for women in her country.
Leonila García (1891-1954) was a Peruvian composer and pianist, recognized for her compositions that blended traditional Peruvian folk music with classical styles, helping to establish a distinct Peruvian musical identity.
People
Leonila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leonila 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
Leonila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leonila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 182 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leonila 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 1,883,266 US residents.
Is Leonila a common name?
We classify Leonila as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 337 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leonila most popular?
The single biggest year for Leonila was 1936, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leonila is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leonila in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,821 people with the name Leonila, or 0.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,878 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 Leonila 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 Leonila?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leonila appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,821 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Leonila?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leonila is Hispanic at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (41.3%) and White (1.1%). 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 Leonila most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Leonila in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.0% (1,608 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 Leonila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leonila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leonila 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 Leonila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leonila 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 Leonila 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 share the name Leonila?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.