Léon

Boy · Greek

Léon

Say it: lay-OHN

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From Greek leōn 'lion'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Popular around 1900 and again one of France's top boys' names.

Its wave through time

A revival, back after decades away

In the United States

171,834 babies given this name since 1880
At its height in 1926, about 1 in 420 boys
1,914 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

French Polish Croatian

The family of the name

English	Leon
Italian	Leone
Spanish	León
Russian	Lev

Famous bearers

Léon Blum, prime minister
Léon Gambetta

Names worth a look

JeromeBoyGreek Hierōnymos, 'sacred name' (hieros 'holy' and onoma 'name').Early Medieval · peak 1938

BernardBoyFrom Germanic bern 'bear' and hart 'hard, brave'.Middle Ages · peak 1922

MauriceBoyFrom Latin Mauritius 'Moorish, dark-skinned'.Middle Ages · peak 1914

GilbertBoyFrom Germanic Giselbert: gisil (sense uncertain: 'pledge' or 'offshoot') and berht 'bright'.Middle Ages · peak 1930

VivianGirl or boyFrom Latin Vivianus, from vivus 'alive'.Middle Ages · peak 1911

LeoBoyLatin leo 'lion', from Greek leōn.Rome · peak 2020

LindaGirlProbably a short form of Germanic names ending in lind ('soft' or 'linden shield'), later associated with Spanish…Victorian · peak 1948

LeonardBoyFrom Germanic leon 'lion' and hard 'hard, brave'.Middle Ages · peak 1920

Where this comes from

Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
National birth statistics of European countries source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.