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Leo

boy name
Origin
Latin
Syllables
2
Peak era
2020s
Today
▲ Rising

Torn between Leo and another name? Compare them side by side →

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.

More names with stories →

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

Why we verify every short-form relationship →

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

LeoLatinLevonArmenian

More branches

LeonaEnglish · feminine formLionelFrench · diminutiveLeonelSpanish · variant

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.

1890speak 2020s

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

See the full list for the United States →

Norway

1 in 140 · register 2026

In Norway, 201 boys were given the name Leo in 2025.

1945peak 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)

See the full list for Norway →

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.

1984peak 2025

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)

See the full list for Austria →

Scotland

1 in 180

In Scotland, 260 boys named Leo were registered in 2024, the 5th most common name among boys that year.

1974peak 2022

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

See the full list for Scotland →

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.

1996peak 2022

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

See the full list for 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.

1964peak 2025

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

See the full list for Ireland →

South Australia

1 in 220 · 2017

In South Australia, 82 boys were registered as Leo in 2017.

1944peak 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

See the full list for South Australia →

Canada

1 in 260

In Canada, 1,410 boys named Leo were born in 2024, the 4th most common name among boys that year.

1991peak 2021

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)

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New Zealand

1 in 340

In New Zealand, 168 boys named Leo were registered in 2025.

1900peak 2019

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

See the full list for New Zealand →

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.

2000peak 2022

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

See the full list for New South Wales →

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

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Poland

1 in 410

In Poland, 601 boys named Leo were born in 2025, the 47th most common name among boys that year.

2000peak 2025

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)

See the full list for Poland →

Puerto Rico

1 in 950

In Puerto Rico, 19 babies were named Leo in 2025, and 68 have carried the name since 1998.

2020peak 2025

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)

See the full list for Puerto Rico →

Mexico City City

1 in 1,000

In Mexico City, there were 118 registrations of Leo in 2022.

2000peak 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

See the full list for Mexico City →

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.

1990peak 20112025

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)

See the full list for France →

Chile

1 in 4,900

In Chile, 36 boys were registered as Leo in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.

1920peak 2021

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

See the full list for Chile →

Argentina

1 in 5,300

In Argentina, 125 newborns were given the name Leo in 2024.

2012peak 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

See the full list for Argentina →

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.

1930s2010s

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

See the full list for Brazil →

Montevideo City

1 in 12,000 · 2011

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

See the full list for Montevideo →

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

Names that fit alongside Leo

Max Oliver Dominic Vince Jack Julian

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

Name trails: explore connections from Leo →

The Leo deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

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.

Both reports, explained →

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