Leo

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Leon in MX Mexico, PE Peru, ES Spain and 7 more, Levon in PL Poland, Leone in IT Italy and Leao in PT Portugal.

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 12 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◐

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

• Finnish given name132K records spelled Leo20 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, United States, Philippines, Slovenia

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian

  Also written Leó, Léo, Ľêő, Lëo, Ĺęó

• Polish given name96K records spelled Leo56 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, Croatia, United States, Czechia

  Languages: Polish, Croatian, Czech

  Also written Лео, Lew, Lev, Лэо, Lév

• Indonesian given name46K records spelled Leo8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Léo, Lêö, Lëo, Lèo, Lēo

• a separate given name42K records spelled Leo4 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Léo, Lêô, Leó

• Hindi given name22K records spelled Leo14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, United Kingdom, Philippines

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Léo, Lëö, Ĺĕŏ, Lêò, Léó

• a separate given name10K records spelled Leo21 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Norway, Netherlands, Canada

  Also written L̶e̶o̶, Lëõ, Lēõ, Leõ, Lẻo

99 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●

Leo 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 German, originally from ahd. lewen 'be gracious, be favorable', later linked to Lat. leo 'lion'

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In Irish, Latin name meaning “lion”; adopted in Ireland and translated as Leon.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In Latin, Latin 'lion'; reference to a name entry in the namebook

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• from Latin leo ‘lion’, applied either a nickname for a strong or fearless man or a habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a lion; or alternatively from a personal name of the same derivation.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

• From a Late Latin personal name, meaning ‘lion’, which was borne by a large number of early Christian saints, most notably Pope Leo the Great (?390- 461). Variant: Leon (taken from the oblique case).

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

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●

• Leo IIIb. 750ITPope of the Catholic Church from 795 to 816 (born 750–816)
• Leo IVb. 790ITpope of the Catholic Church
• Leo VIIIb. 915ITpope
• Leo XIb. 1535FRpope of the Catholic Church in April 1605 (1535-1605)
• Leo von Caprivib. 1831DEGerman Chancellor and Prussian General of the Infantry and Prime Minister (1831-1899)
• Léon Bourgeoisb. 1851FRnot in their usual nameFrench statesman (1851-1925)
• Leó Szilárdb. 1898HUHungarian-American Jewish physicist and inventor (1898–1964)
• Leo Esakib. 1925JPJapanese physicist (1925-)
• Tom Clancyb. 1947USnot in their usual nameAmerican author (1947–2013)
• Leo Varadkarb. 1979IETaoiseach from 2017 to 2020, and from 2022 to 2024.

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 · 1,885 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Leo?

We estimate roughly 326 thousand people bear Leo (counting its spellings and scripts) across 16 countries in our records.

In which country does Leo have the most bearers?

Leo is most frequently recorded in Mexico, where it is most often spelled leon.

Where is Leo most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Leo is densest in Ecuador — about 1 in 177 people — even though Mexico holds more of our records for it.

How common is Leo compared with other names?

In Mexico, Leo is the 45th most common surname of 198,716 surnames recorded there.

Is Leo a male or female name?

Leo is a male 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 Leo mean?

Recorded meaning: from OFr Leon, Greek λέων, Latin leo ‘lion’; first attested Leo camerarius 1121–48 Bury (Norfolk)