Leah
Meaning
traditionally "weary," as Genesis has it, though some scholars hear an old word for "wild cow," a herder's term of praise in a world of flocks; Jacob's first wife and mother of half the twelve tribes. A quiet biblical staple modern parents keep choosing
The story
Leah steps out of Genesis as the elder sister of Rachel, the first wife of Jacob, and the mother of six of the twelve tribes of Israel: overlooked in the story's famous love triangle, yet the ancestor of much of its future. Her name is traditionally read as weary, though some connect it to a word for gazelle, and it has been in continuous use among Jewish families for about as long as such things can be traced. In American records Leah kept a steady, unhurried presence through the twentieth century before the modern taste for short, soft biblical names carried it upward: it climbed through the 1990s and 2000s and reached its strongest decade in the 2010s. It remains a quiet counterweight to flashier choices, ancient, gentle, and sure of itself.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Leah peaked in the 2010s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
159 people · the #29,875 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 9
Among people named Leah living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 46 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Leah
Most people given the name Leah in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Leah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Leah truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Leah fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Leah travels
Jewish American · weary, or gazelle; a beloved matriarch name that has surged in recent decades
Hebrew · weary, or gazelle
Keep exploring
Names like Leah · Middle names for Leah · Jewish American baby names · Hebrew baby names · Short names
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