Meaning and history
Léo is derived from Latin leo, meaning “lion,” and is cognate with Leon. Popular among early Christians, it has been borne by 14 popes, including Saint Leo the Great, who in the 5th century asserted the dominance of the Roman bishops over all others, as well as six Byzantine emperors and five Armenian kings. Notable later bearers include the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), whose name is spelled Лев in Russian and whose works include War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Leo is also the name of a constellation and the fifth sign of the zodiac, and it can serve as a short form of longer names beginning with Leo, such as Leonard.
20062006: 1,501 births, rank #235
2007: 1,531 births, rank #238
2008: 1,628 births, rank #228
2009: 1,802 births, rank #210
2010: 1,946 births, rank #191
20112011: 2,250 births, rank #167
2012: 2,879 births, rank #134
2013: 3,511 births, rank #112
2014: 3,976 births, rank #97
2015: 4,603 births, rank #91
20162016: 5,299 births, rank #74
2017: 5,965 births, rank #62
2018: 6,773 births, rank #50
2019: 7,504 births, rank #40
2020: 7,229 births, rank #36
20212021: 7,803 births, rank #31
2022: 8,293 births, rank #22
2023: 8,160 births, rank #18
2024: 7,823 births, rank #24
20252025: 8,173 births, rank #19
Leo has made a dramatic comeback. After first appearing in the US records in 1880, it fell to #486 by 1995, before climbing to #19 in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2022, with 8,293 births.