Primarily a boy's name · 99% boys
Origin: FrenchIn Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Leon yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
Leon has nearly returned to a peak it set a hundred years ago. Its highest birth count, 2,677, dates to 1924; it currently records 2,547, up 136% across the decade. Very few names manage that kind of round trip — most Victorian and interwar names either stay buried or come back at a fraction of their old volume. Rank tells a different story, 73 back in 1926 against 141 now, because the field is so much wider today. Present since 1880 with 181,458 births. The namesakes are almost entirely French and nineteenth-century: the physicist Léon Foucault, born 1819, the prime ministers Léon Blum and Léon Bourgeois, and Léon Gambetta — all spelled with an accent that American records drop.
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to Leon · Compare Leon with another name → · Popular names of the 1920s · Boys names starting with L
Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 118 | #114 |
| 1881 | 121 | #104 |
| 1882 | 131 | #114 |
| 1883 | 140 | #97 |
| 1884 | 150 | #103 |
| 1885 | 146 | #99 |
| 1886 | 142 | #109 |
| 1887 | 147 | #99 |
| 1888 | 196 | #90 |
| 1889 | 184 | #94 |
| 1890 | 197 | #87 |
| 1891 | 150 | #104 |
| 1892 | 187 | #101 |
| 1893 | 211 | #88 |
| 1894 | 236 | #84 |
| 1895 | 219 | #87 |
| 1896 | 235 | #86 |
| 1897 | 229 | #81 |
| 1898 | 251 | #83 |
| 1899 | 188 | #93 |
| 1900 | 310 | #85 |
| 1901 | 208 | #87 |
| 1902 | 248 | #86 |
| 1903 | 287 | #76 |
| 1904 | 241 | #90 |
| 1905 | 274 | #87 |
| 1906 | 263 | #87 |
| 1907 | 324 | #80 |
| 1908 | 327 | #84 |
| 1909 | 377 | #80 |
| 1910 | 435 | #81 |
| 1911 | 540 | #77 |
| 1912 | 1,006 | #79 |
| 1913 | 1,160 | #81 |
| 1914 | 1,414 | #85 |
| 1915 | 1,977 | #82 |
| 1916 | 1,954 | #85 |
| 1917 | 2,102 | #82 |
| 1918 | 2,442 | #77 |
| 1919 | 2,250 | #80 |
| 1920 | 2,554 | #75 |
| 1921 | 2,616 | #74 |
| 1922 | 2,521 | #77 |
| 1923 | 2,528 | #77 |
| 1924 | 2,677 | #76 |
| 1925 | 2,636 | #76 |
| 1926 | 2,647 | #73 |
| 1927 | 2,602 | #78 |
| 1928 | 2,460 | #81 |
| 1929 | 2,336 | #81 |
| 1930 | 2,401 | #81 |
| 1931 | 2,245 | #84 |
| 1932 | 2,295 | #83 |
| 1933 | 2,187 | #85 |
| 1934 | 2,306 | #87 |
| 1935 | 2,282 | #86 |
| 1936 | 2,282 | #82 |
| 1937 | 2,325 | #85 |
| 1938 | 2,355 | #85 |
| 1939 | 2,327 | #86 |
| 1940 | 2,318 | #89 |
| 1941 | 2,375 | #93 |
| 1942 | 2,550 | #93 |
| 1943 | 2,451 | #103 |
| 1944 | 2,151 | #108 |
| 1945 | 2,098 | #111 |
| 1946 | 2,338 | #113 |
| 1947 | 2,488 | #117 |
| 1948 | 2,383 | #119 |
| 1949 | 2,425 | #121 |
| 1950 | 2,428 | #119 |
| 1951 | 2,366 | #122 |
| 1952 | 2,377 | #124 |
| 1953 | 2,273 | #137 |
| 1954 | 2,145 | #140 |
| 1955 | 2,142 | #143 |
| 1956 | 2,043 | #154 |
| 1957 | 1,888 | #166 |
| 1958 | 1,932 | #163 |
| 1959 | 1,748 | #176 |
| 1960 | 1,647 | #189 |
| 1961 | 1,559 | #194 |
| 1962 | 1,542 | #195 |
| 1963 | 1,477 | #201 |
| 1964 | 1,482 | #190 |
| 1965 | 1,263 | #199 |
| 1966 | 1,308 | #187 |
| 1967 | 1,198 | #195 |
| 1968 | 1,197 | #196 |
| 1969 | 1,151 | #213 |
| 1970 | 1,221 | #207 |
| 1971 | 1,041 | #227 |
| 1972 | 1,025 | #218 |
| 1973 | 1,007 | #217 |
| 1974 | 973 | #219 |
| 1975 | 884 | #233 |
| 1976 | 924 | #221 |
| 1977 | 948 | #229 |
| 1978 | 924 | #228 |
| 1979 | 907 | #242 |
| 1980 | 904 | #248 |
| 1981 | 869 | #253 |
| 1982 | 873 | #253 |
| 1983 | 784 | #264 |
| 1984 | 797 | #262 |
| 1985 | 727 | #283 |
| 1986 | 687 | #299 |
| 1987 | 662 | #318 |
| 1988 | 675 | #320 |
| 1989 | 647 | #351 |
| 1990 | 594 | #390 |
| 1991 | 581 | #391 |
| 1992 | 591 | #388 |
| 1993 | 531 | #425 |
| 1994 | 544 | #422 |
| 1995 | 503 | #452 |
| 1996 | 473 | #458 |
| 1997 | 436 | #489 |
| 1998 | 460 | #476 |
| 1999 | 463 | #480 |
| 2000 | 457 | #500 |
| 2001 | 469 | #490 |
| 2002 | 472 | #490 |
| 2003 | 495 | #497 |
| 2004 | 462 | #520 |
| 2005 | 470 | #524 |
| 2006 | 517 | #502 |
| 2007 | 543 | #488 |
| 2008 | 549 | #499 |
| 2009 | 628 | #445 |
| 2010 | 669 | #418 |
| 2011 | 696 | #406 |
| 2012 | 859 | #356 |
| 2013 | 1,021 | #324 |
| 2014 | 1,081 | #321 |
| 2015 | 1,140 | #314 |
| 2016 | 1,313 | #277 |
| 2017 | 1,516 | #244 |
| 2018 | 1,605 | #238 |
| 2019 | 1,866 | #208 |
| 2020 | 1,923 | #196 |
| 2021 | 2,198 | #177 |
| 2022 | 2,373 | #158 |
| 2023 | 2,456 | #148 |
| 2024 | 2,547 | #141 |
