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Leonidas

#510 in 2025Boys' name

Son of Leon / lion

Leonidas has been given to 10,281 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #510 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2022, with 760 recorded.

Babies named Leonidas, 2025

1 in 5,610

Leonidas over time, 1880–2025

Boys
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Leonidas: meaning, origin, and history

Son of Leon / lion

Ancient Greek

What Leonidas means

Leonidas means “son of Leon / lion”, associated with Leōnídās.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Ancient Greek Λεωνίδᾱς (Leōnídās, “son of Leon / lion”).

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Leonidas is used in English and Czech. Its origins include Ancient Greek.

Leonidas comes through Ancient Greek Λεωνίδᾱς.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Czech, Leonidas is pronounced [ˈlɛoɲɪdas].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 10,281 boys were recorded with the name Leonidas between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 760 in 2022; its best national rank was #421 in 2022.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #457 in 2020 to #510 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #518 in 2015 to #510 in 2025.

How common is Leonidas?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 5,610
591 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 2,890
0.03% of boys
Rank, 2025
#510
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
3,889 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Leonidas 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 1002%
School of 5009%

Put another way: gather 3,889 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Leonidas. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Leonidass were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Leonidas was born before 2017 — so the typical Leonidas is around 8 today.

Median birth year
2017
About 8 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
43.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
88.7%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
9,741
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 43.6% of all recorded uses (4,479).

Is Leonidas 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
±0
No change
Rank vs 5 years ago
−53
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+8
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.06×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
77.8%
Peak was 2022 (760)
Years since peak
3
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
49.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#421
2022

Spellings of Leonidas

Leonidas is the most-used spelling, taking 93.7% of the 10,974 babies given a near-identical spelling.

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 Leonidas is used

Across 2016–2025, Leonidas was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 725 boys, against 1 in 2,539 across all states with data. It was least common in West Virginia (1 in 10,000).

10138 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 725
  2. 2New Mexico1 in 1,220
  3. 3Colorado1 in 1,351
  4. 4Alaska1 in 1,563
  5. 5Arizona1 in 1,639
  6. 6Nevada1 in 1,667
  7. 7Washington1 in 1,724
  8. 8Utah1 in 1,923

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.

Geographically, Leonidas is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 56% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Leonidas around the world

Where Leonidas 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
    1997–2025
    #452
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2011–2025
    #762
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2011–2025
    #829
    in 2025
  • France
    1900–2025
    #4,030
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2005–2024
    #564
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1949–2013
    #499
    in 2013

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

Notable people named Leonidas

People whose public names include Leonidas, 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.

Leonidas in other languages

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

LeoLevLeonLeoneLeonidLeonidaLeonideLeóLéonLéonide

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

Leonidas by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#510
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 53
Best rank ever
#421
2022
Peak year
2022
760 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
10,281
Count in 2025
591

Names similar to Leonidas

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

LeopoldoLeobardoLeopoldLeonardoLeonelLeonidesLeovanniLeondreLeoncioLeonardLeonidLeondroLeovardoLeonellLeonhardLeonydasLeodanLeotisLeonteLeoneMeliodasLeonidusLeomarLeovani

Names with a curve like Leonidas

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

KysonRoninEdenCassiusOakleyRowenOdinAyaanCallenRaidenRemyJasiah

Sibling names for Leonidas

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 Leonidas

Top names of 2022, Leonidas's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2022Boys' names starting with LAncient Greek NamesGreek Mythology Names