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Lei

#16,275 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Wreath; child

Lei has been given to 683 babies in the U.S. since 1937. In 2025 it ranked #16,275 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1960, with 25 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 95% girls, 5% boys all-time.

Babies named Lei, 2025

1 in 663,000

Lei over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010203018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Lei over time

In 2025, Lei went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19372025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Lei: meaning, origin, and history

Wreath; child

Hawaiian

What Lei means

Lei means “wreath; child”, associated with lei.

Origin, language, and formation

Lei is used in Hawaiian. Its origins include Hawaiian.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Hawaiian, Lei is pronounced /ˈlei̯/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 652 girls were recorded with the name Lei between 1937 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 25 in 1960; its best national rank was #2,352 in 1956.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #14,392 in 2020 to #16,275 in 2025.

In the United States, 31 boys were recorded with the name Lei between 1979 and 2015. Its highest annual count was 6 in 2015; its best national rank was #6,625 in 1979.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Lei?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 663,000
5 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 321,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#16,275
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
459,581 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Lei sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 459,581 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Lei. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Leis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Lei was born before 1967 — so the typical Lei is around 58 today.

Median birth year
1967
About 58 years old
Biggest decade
1960s
24.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
13.7%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
571
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1960s — 24.5% of all recorded uses (160).

Is Lei 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
+369
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,883
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
20.0%
Peak was 1960 (25)
Years since peak
65
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
42.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,352
1956

Where Lei is used

Across 1910–2025, Lei was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 7,692 girls, against 1 in 205,933 across all states with data. It was least common in California (1 in —).

013 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 7,692
  2. 2California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Lei has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Lei around the world

Where Lei 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
    2004–2008
    #4,524
    in 2008
  • France
    2010–2010
    #6,995
    in 2010
  • South Australia
    1968–1993
    #712
    in 1993

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

Lei by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#16,275
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,883
Best rank ever
#2,352
1956
Peak year
1960
25 that year
First recorded
1937
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
652
Count in 2025
5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#6,625
1979
Peak year
2015
6 that year
First recorded
1979
Last recorded
2015
All-time count
31
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Lei

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

LeinaLeidyLeiraLeiyaLeiahLeianiLeitaLeianaLeidaLeilanaSoleiLeiliLeiannaLeighlaLeiloniKyleiLeishaRyleiLeireLeithaMyleiMarleiBayleiHarlei

Sibling names for Lei

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 Lei

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