Leo
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Meaning
lion
Also written Léo.
The story
Leo is the Latin lion, no softening, and the papacy has kept it close: fourteen popes have now carried the name. The newest, Leo XIV, elected in 2025 as the first pope born in the United States, put it back on front pages everywhere, and Spanish and Portuguese speakers got the better line, since they say León and Leão: the reigning pope is literally named Lion. The name's oldest legend belongs to Leo the Great, remembered for riding out to meet Attila the Hun, after which Attila turned back from Italy, however much of that was Leo's doing. Literature answers with Leo Tolstoy, who wrote under the Russian Лев, the same animal again, and football with Leo Messi, who lifted the World Cup. One syllable, one beast, and, at the moment, the most newsworthy name in Rome.
The formal names behind Leo
Leo is an established short form of each of these names.
Leonardo · Italian origin · brave lion (leon 'lion' + hard 'brave, hardy'); Leonardo da Vinci, Renaissance polymath, inventor, and artist
Leonard · Germanic origin · Germanic, 'brave lion' or 'lion-strength'
Leopold · Germanic origin · "bold people"
Leonid · Russian origin · lion-like
Leo across languages
One shared root links 5 names across 5 languages.
Shared root: from Latin leo "lion" (Greek leōn), with Lionel as its medieval French diminutive "little lion"
The constellation
More branches
On record since at least 440: Pope Leo I.
How popular is Leo around the world?
In the United States, 47,645 babies were named Leo between 2020 and 2025. In Norway, 201 boys were given the name Leo in 2025.
Leo is on the official records of the United States, Norway, Austria, Scotland, England and Wales, Ireland, South Australia, Canada, New Zealand, New South Wales, Spain, Poland, Puerto Rico, Mexico City, France, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Montevideo.
Leo crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of an English-speaking birth record and of a Spanish-speaking one. The full list: English and Spanish
United States
1 in 460
In the United States, 47,645 babies were named Leo between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Leo peaked in the 2020s. Leo reached 37,456 US births in the 1920s, its high point before 1930, fell to 4,583 in the 1980s, and was back at 47,645 in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Norway
1 in 140register 2026
In Norway, 201 boys were given the name Leo in 2025.
share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
Austria
1 in 140
In Austria, 530 boys named Leo were born in 2025, the 7th most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Scotland
1 in 180
In Scotland, 260 boys named Leo were registered in 2024, the 5th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 180
In England and Wales, 3,278 boys named Leo were born in 2025, the 3rd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 210
In Ireland, 261 boys named Leo were born in 2025, the 10th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Leo, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
South Australia
1 in 2202017
In South Australia, 82 boys were registered as Leo in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 260
In Canada, 1,410 boys named Leo were born in 2024, the 4th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 340
In New Zealand, 168 boys named Leo were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
New South Wales
#5 · 2025
In New South Wales, 379 boys named Leo were registered in 2025, ranked 5th in that year’s top 100 for boys.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Spain
#4 · 2024
In Spain, 36,280 residents are named Leo, the 98th most common name among men, with a mean age of 7.2 years.
In Spain, Leo was the 4th most common name among boys born in 2024.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Poland
1 in 410
In Poland, 601 boys named Leo were born in 2025, the 47th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Leo, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Puerto Rico
1 in 950
In Puerto Rico, 19 babies were named Leo in 2025, and 68 have carried the name since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Mexico City City
1 in 1,000
In Mexico City, there were 118 registrations of Leo in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (6 registrations through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
France
1 in 3,800
In France, about 170 boys named Leo were born in 2025, the 312th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Leo, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Chile
1 in 4,900
In Chile, 36 boys were registered as Leo in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Argentina
1 in 5,300
In Argentina, 125 newborns were given the name Leo in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
1 in 10,000
At the 2022 census, 20,018 people in Brazil were named Leo, ranked 1,068th, with a median age of 25.
Among people named Leo living in Brazil at the 2022 census, roughly as many were born in the 2000s as in the 2010s, more than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 2,962 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Montevideo City
1 in 12,0002011
In Montevideo, 2 boys named Leo were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Keep exploring
Names like Leo · Names that go with Leo · Middle names for Leo · Spanish baby names from Spain · Names of poets and writers · Names of soccer legends · Short names · What is Leo short for? · The hundred-year rule
The Leo deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Leo 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 Leo fits with your family’s names and surname.
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