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Leander

#1,463 in 2025Boys' name

Lion + man

Leander has been given to 6,956 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,463 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 122 recorded.

Babies named Leander, 2025

1 in 27,200

Leander over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Leander: meaning, origin, and history

Lion + man

Ancient Greek

What Leander means

Leander means “lion + man”, associated with λέων and ἀνήρ.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Ancient Greek Λέανδρος (Léandros), from λέων (léōn, “lion”) + ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Leander (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Leander is used in English and Swedish. Its origins include Ancient Greek.

Leander comes through Ancient Greek Λέανδρος.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Leander is pronounced /liːˈændɚ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,928 boys were recorded with the name Leander between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 122 in 2025; its best national rank was #326 in 1882.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,728 in 2020 to #1,463 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,944 in 2015 to #1,463 in 2025.

In the United States, 28 girls were recorded with the name Leander between 1919 and 1979. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1976; its best national rank was #5,193 in 1919.

How common is Leander?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 27,200
122 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 14,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,463
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
18,836 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Leander sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 18,836 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Leander. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Leanders were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Leander was born before 1960 — so the typical Leander is around 65 today.

Median birth year
1960
About 65 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
11.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
24.0%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
4,114
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 11.5% of all recorded uses (800).

Is Leander rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+295
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+265
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+481
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.63×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (122)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
12.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#326
1882

Spellings of Leander

Leander is not the most common spelling — Alexander is, with 84.6% against Leander's 0.80%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Leander is used

Across 2016–2025, Leander was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 14,286 boys, against 1 in 27,851 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 100,000).

17 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 14,286
  2. 2Ohio1 in 16,667
  3. 3California1 in 20,000
  4. 4Washington1 in 20,000
  5. 5Massachusetts1 in 25,000
  6. 6Minnesota1 in 25,000
  7. 7Wisconsin1 in 25,000
  8. 8Florida1 in 33,333

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Leander around the world

Where Leander ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2001–2025
    #1,307
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2024–2024
    #727
    in 2024
  • France
    2010–2024
    #5,549
    in 2024
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #88
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1998–2024
    #1,614
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2010–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Leander

People whose public names include Leander, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Leander in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Leander. Linked forms have their own page here.

LeandreLeandroLeandrosLéandreCleander

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Leander by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,463
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 265
Best rank ever
#326
1882
Peak year
2025
122 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,928
Count in 2025
122

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,193
1919
Peak year
1976
7 that year
First recorded
1919
Last recorded
1979
All-time count
28
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Leander

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

LeandroLeandreEvanderWilderLeamonWylderCalderAnderVanderZanderSanderStryderXzanderAlexzanderLeanordRhyderXanderThunderLanderHaiderElderLeandrewStriderAleksander

Names with a curve like Leander

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Leander, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

HoseaEvansOrinOrenOrrinJulesWilliamsLemuelFritzConstantineMerrittRaleigh

Sibling names for Leander

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Leander

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