boys' name ★ peaked 2022

Leo

Meaning en (English) Gender Boy · 1% girls Rank 2025 #19 Trend ↑ Rising 17%

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Rank 2025
#19
among boys · ↑5 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
8,196
named Leo · +5% vs 2024
How common
1 in 209
boys born in 2025
Peak year
2022
8,325 babies
All-time total
262,124
#146 all-time among boys
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Leo popularity over time

262,124 babies have been named Leo since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
1.883.755.637.518801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 61 2,098 2,159 216 – #59
1890s 134 4,691 4,825 483 +123% #39
1900s 155 5,629 5,784 578 +20% #38
1910s 394 26,656 27,050 2,705 +368% #47
1920s 496 36,960 37,456 3,746 +38% #48
1930s 219 22,864 23,083 2,308 -38% #63
1940s 113 16,962 17,075 1,708 -26% #112
1950s 82 15,536 15,618 1,562 -9% #156
1960s 52 9,487 9,539 954 -39% #230
1970s 54 5,365 5,419 542 -43% #294
1980s 42 4,541 4,583 458 -15% #341
1990s 11 4,738 4,749 475 +4% #434
2000s 38 12,274 12,312 1,231 +159% #210
2010s 121 44,706 44,827 4,483 +264% #40
2020s (to 2025) 164 47,481 47,645 7,941 +77% #18

Where Leo is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 8,392 4.91 #18
2027 8,582 5.02 #18
2028 8,747 5.12 #16
2029 8,890 5.20 #13
2030 9,014 5.28 #13

Where Leo is most popular

Boys named Leo per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 4.66 per 1,000. Strongest in District of Columbia, Vermont, and Hawaii.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Leo born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
District of Columbia 187 12.7 +172%
Vermont 78 12.4 +167%
Hawaii 143 9.21 +98%
North Dakota 157 9.20 +97%
South Dakota 160 8.60 +85%
Connecticut 571 8.43 +81%
New Hampshire 187 8.42 +81%
Minnesota 1,033 8.42 +81%
Massachusetts 1,155 8.40 +80%
Delaware 127 8.38 +80%
Maine 155 7.99 +71%
Nebraska 340 7.82 +68%
Wisconsin 913 7.71 +65%
Rhode Island 114 6.99 +50%
Iowa 482 6.99 +50%
Illinois 1,735 6.79 +46%
New Jersey 1,360 6.76 +45%
Utah 643 6.74 +45%
New York 2,908 6.72 +44%
Wyoming 37 6.40 +37%
Kansas 434 6.33 +36%
Washington 1,027 6.28 +35%
California 5,701 6.24 +34%
Colorado 797 6.17 +32%
Oregon 465 6.13 +31%
Montana 108 6.12 +31%
Pennsylvania 1,615 6.08 +31%
Alaska 71 5.96 +28%
Ohio 1,538 5.80 +25%
Michigan 1,163 5.68 +22%
Nevada 314 5.51 +18%
Idaho 221 5.40 +16%
New Mexico 177 5.37 +15%
Missouri 741 5.35 +15%
Indiana 810 5.05 +8%
Arizona 809 4.94 +6%
Maryland 585 4.91 +5%
Florida 2,278 4.81 ≈ national
Virginia 911 4.80 ≈ national
West Virginia 156 4.78 ≈ national
Oklahoma 376 4.25 -9%
North Carolina 1,012 3.96 -15%
Texas 3,244 3.68 -21%
Kentucky 361 3.60 -23%
Georgia 909 3.59 -23%
Tennessee 645 3.57 -23%
Arkansas 222 3.51 -25%
Louisiana 339 3.31 -29%
South Carolina 342 3.31 -29%
Alabama 289 2.64 -43%
Mississippi 97 1.71 -63%

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Leo

Leo is a top-50 name for boys in the United States, ranked #19 in 2025 with 8,173 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 262,124 American babies have been named Leo. Its peak came in 2022, when 8,325 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 2020s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Leo stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Leo?

The median living Leo is about 10 years old; half are between 4 and 44. An estimated 150 thousand people named Leo are alive in the United States today.

median 10 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Leo year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 23 #5,492 8,173 #19
2024 18 #6,550 7,823 #24
2023 28 #4,818 8,160 #18
2022 32 #4,423 8,293 #22
2021 32 #4,373 7,803 #31
2020 31 #4,405 7,229 #36
2019 22 #5,723 7,504 #40
2018 19 #6,410 6,773 #50
2017 17 #6,979 5,965 #62
2016 13 #8,679 5,299 #74
2015 11 #9,872 4,603 #91
2014 16 #7,506 3,976 #97
2013 9 #11,553 3,511 #112
2012 8 #12,905 2,879 #134
2011 6 #15,943 2,250 #167
2010 – – 1,946 #191
2009 6 #16,379 1,802 #210
2008 6 #16,612 1,628 #228
2007 – – 1,531 #238
2006 – – 1,501 #235
2005 7 #13,850 1,275 #259
2004 5 #17,669 1,239 #265
2003 8 #11,939 1,095 #285
2002 6 #14,658 809 #339
2001 – – 736 #360
2000 – – 658 #388
1995 5 #14,755 446 #486
1990 – – 431 #477
1985 5 #11,660 447 #405
1980 – – 473 #367
1975 7 #7,599 516 #336
1970 6 #7,562 701 #294
1965 6 #6,188 902 #247
1960 9 #4,624 1,204 #230
1955 9 #4,243 1,576 #175
1950 6 #5,032 1,554 #160
1945 11 #2,846 1,582 #139
1940 15 #2,160 1,752 #112
1935 13 #2,376 2,142 #92
1930 46 #1,094 3,035 #63
1925 53 #1,042 3,775 #54
1920 62 #926 4,054 #48
1915 48 #960 3,527 #47
1910 25 #868 707 #51
1905 14 #1,042 512 #46
1900 17 #930 570 #46
1895 7 #1,369 509 #42
1890 12 #807 393 #49
1885 11 #679 199 #83
1880 6 #799 147 #93

Famous people named Leo

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Leo Tolstoy Leo Tolstoy Russian writer (1828–1910) 19th century
  2. 2 Leo Strauss Leo Strauss American political philosopher (1899–1973) 19th century
  3. 3 Leo Szilard Leo Szilard Hungarian-American physicist and inventor (1898–1964) 19th century
  4. 4 Leo III the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian Byzantine emperor from 717 to 741 675–741 · Medieval
  5. 5 Leo Fender Leo Fender American inventor and founder of the Fender company (1909–1991) Contemporary
  6. 6 Leo VI the Wise Leo VI the Wise Byzantine emperor from 886 to 912 866–912 · Medieval
  7. 7 Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček Czech composer (1854–1928) 19th century
  8. 8 Leo von Caprivi Leo von Caprivi Chancellor of the German Empire from 1890 to 1894 1831–1899 · 19th century
  9. 9 Leo Africanus Leo Africanus Maghrebi author (c. 1494-c. 1554) Medieval
  10. 10 Leo IV the Khazar Leo IV the Khazar Byzantine emperor from 775 to 780 750–780 · Medieval
  11. 11 Leo Baekeland Leo Baekeland Belgian chemist (1863–1944); inventor of Bakelite 19th century
  12. 12 Leo II Leo II Eastern Roman emperor in 474 467–474 · Antiquity
  13. 13 Leo V the Armenian Leo V the Armenian Byzantine emperor from 813 to 820 775–820 · Medieval
  14. 14 Leo Beenhakker Leo Beenhakker Dutch football coach (1942–2025) Contemporary
  15. 15 Leo Kanner Leo Kanner Austrian-American physician and psychiatrist 1894–1981 · 19th century
  16. 16 Leo Jogiches Leo Jogiches Polish Marxist revolutionary (1867–1919) 19th century
  17. 17 Leo McCarey Leo McCarey American film director (1898–1969) 19th century
  18. 18 Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg Military personnel, Germany 1886–1974 · 19th century
  19. 19 Leo Esaki Leo Esaki Japanese physicist (born 1925) Contemporary
  20. 20 Leo Brouwer Composer, Cuba b. 1939 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Leo, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Leo?

The median living Leo is about 10 years old. Half of all living Leos are between 4 and 44 years old.

How many people named Leo are alive today?

An estimated 150 thousand people named Leo are alive in the United States, based on 262,124 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Leo mean?

From Lua error in Module:etymology/templates at line 71: Language 'en (English)' does not match the L2 header (Translingual)., calque of Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), calque of Akkadian 𒉈𒍑 (nēšu)/Akkadian 𒌨𒄞𒆷 (urgulû), from Lua…

How popular is the name Leo in 2025?

Leo ranked #19 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 8,173 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Leo?

262,124 babies have been named Leo in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Leo most popular?

Leo peaked in 2022, when 8,325 newborns received the name.

Is Leo a boy or girl name?

Leo is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 99% of babies with the name.

Is the name Leo rising or falling?

Leo is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Leo become more popular?

Leo is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 9,014 boys named Leo in 2030, which would rank around #13. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Leo?

Well-known people named Leo include Leo Tolstoy (writer), Leo Strauss (philosopher), Leo Szilard (physicist).

Names like Leo

Names that sound and feel close to Leo: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Leo with similar names → More names starting with L →