Lea

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Léa in ES Spain.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Lea is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Finnish given name81K records spelled Lea8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Estonia, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Léa, Lêa, Leà, Lēä, Leä

• a separate given name73K records spelled Lea4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland

  Also written Léa, Leá, Leã

• Russian given name46K records spelled Lea156 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Croatia, Ukraine, Poland

  Languages: Russian, Croatian, Ukrainian

  Also written Лия, Лія, Лея, Лиа, Lia

• Danish given name44K records spelled Lea17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Denmark, Norway, United States, Iceland

  Languages: Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian

  Also written Léa, Leaa, Lëa, Lèâ, Lëaa

• Indonesian given name12K records spelled Lea6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay, Malagasy

  Also written Léa, Lëä, Lèa

• Hungarian given name9.2K records spelled Lea4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Slovenia, Hungary, United States, Switzerland

  Also written Léa, Léà, Lëa

84 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Lea is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Swahili, Kiswahili: to raise a child; also Hebrew 'weary' and Assyrian 'mistress/ruler'.

  as a name·African Names

• In English, patronymic from a Germanic personal name formed of the elements Hut ‘people’, ‘tribe’ -t- hardi ‘strong’.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• In English, An open field, meadow, pasture.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In German, Leah (biblical character)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Spanish, inflection of leer:

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Françoise Giroudb. 1916FRnot in their usual nameFrench writer and politician (1916–2003)
• Lea DeLariab. 1958USAmerican actor, comedian and singer
• Lea Thompsonb. 1961USAmerican actress
• Léa Druckerb. 1972FRFrench actress
• Kyrsten Sinemab. 1976USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician (born 1976)
• Lara Trumpb. 1982USnot in their usual nameAmerican television producer and campaign adviser (born 1982)
• Léa Seydouxb. 1985FRFrench actress (born 1985)
• Lea Micheleb. 1986USAmerican actress and singer
• Lea Sirkb. 1989SISlovene singer
• Lea Schüllerb. 1997DEGerman association football player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,373 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Lea?

We estimate roughly 297 thousand people bear Lea (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Lea have the most bearers?

We estimate about 209 thousand people bear Lea in France, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled lea.

Where is Lea most common?

Lea is densest in France, where the national register counts about 1 in 325 people carrying it.

How common is Lea compared with other names?

In France, Lea is the 79th most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Lea a male or female name?

Lea is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Lea mean?

Recorded meaning: from one of the many places named Lea, Lee, Leigh, Leighs, or Lye, or 'dweller by the wood or clearing'; OE lēah; first attested Ailric de la Leie 1148–66 NthCh (Nth)