Leaf
A unisex nature name of English origin referring to the flat green outgrowths of plants.
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the first name Leaf. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Leaf today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leaf births was 2016 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leaf. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
130
~ 1 in 2,636,572 Americans
Peak year
2016
12 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,277
Tracked since 1971
Popularity
Leaf: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leaf from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 43 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leaf by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Leaf during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leaf
The name Leaf originates from the Old English word "leaf" which means the flat, green outgrowth from the stem of a plant. The name is believed to have first emerged in the Anglo-Saxon period, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD, in regions of what is now England and parts of mainland Europe.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Leaf can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a manuscript record of a survey of much of England and Wales ordered by William the Conqueror. In this document, a landowner named Leaf is mentioned as holding estates in Gloucestershire.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Leaf was occasionally used as a given name, particularly among rural communities where connection to nature and the land was deeply valued. However, it remained relatively uncommon until more recent times.
One notable historical figure with the name Leaf was Leaf Peterson (1905-1975), a Norwegian-American author and illustrator of children's books. Born in Minneapolis, Peterson wrote and illustrated over 40 books during his career, many of which celebrated the natural world and outdoor adventures.
Another person of note was Leaf Erikson (born 1957), an Icelandic explorer and author. Erikson is best known for his attempts to recreate the voyages of the Vikings across the North Atlantic, using only traditional materials and methods.
In the realm of sports, Leaf Green (1920-2003) was an American professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in the Negro Leagues during the 1940s and 1950s. Green is remembered for his exceptional defensive skills and his role in breaking down racial barriers in professional baseball.
Leaf Bolton (1691-1765) was a British architect and garden designer during the Georgian era. Bolton is credited with designing several notable country estates and gardens in England, including the landscaping at Trentham Gardens in Staffordshire.
Leaf Garner (1945-2022) was a Canadian artist and educator, renowned for her abstract expressionist paintings and her contributions to promoting Indigenous art and culture. Garner's works have been exhibited in galleries across North America and are held in numerous public collections.
People
Leaf + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leaf as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Leaf: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leaf?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 130 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leaf going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,636,572 US residents.
Is Leaf a common name?
We classify Leaf as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 134 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leaf most popular?
The single biggest year for Leaf was 2016, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leaf is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Leaf a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leaf in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.