Leah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "weary" or "tired".
Name Census estimates that about 225,020 living Americans carry the first name Leah. It sits at #53 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leah today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leah births was 2009 (6,799 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Arthur (223,751).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leah. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Leah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Leah is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 467 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
225K
~ 1 in 1,523 Americans
Peak year
2009
6,799 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2022 SSA rank
#53
Tracked since 1880
Census
Leah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 200,966 people with the first name Leah, which placed it at #275 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#275
National first-name rank
People counted
201K
200,966 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
66.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leah is White at 71.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.9%) and Black (7.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Leah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Leah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.3% · 143,195
- Hispanic or Latino12.9% · 25,952
- Black or African American7.4% · 14,815
- Two or more races4.4% · 8,758
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 6,821
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1,425
Gender
Gender distribution for Leah
Out of the 253,034 babies given the name Leah since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Leah as a male name
- Ranked #11,708 in 2022
- 6 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1989 (24 births)
Leah as a female name
- Ranked #53 in 2024
- 3,969 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (6,790 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leah appears almost entirely female. Of the 200,964 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Leah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leah from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 56,099 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leah 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 Leah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Leah, while Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 4,817 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leah
The name Leah has its origins in the Hebrew language. It is derived from the Hebrew word "le'ah," which means "weary" or "tired." The name first appears in the Old Testament of the Bible, where Leah is the first wife of Jacob.
Leah was the daughter of Laban and the mother of six sons and one daughter. According to the biblical account, Leah was not initially loved by Jacob, as he preferred her younger sister Rachel. However, Leah became the mother of many of the tribes of Israel, including Judah, from whom the Jewish people trace their ancestry.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Leah outside of the Bible is found in ancient Greek inscriptions from around the 5th century BCE. This suggests that the name was known and used in the ancient Mediterranean world.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women named Leah. One of the most famous was Leah Goldberg (1911-1970), an Israeli poet, novelist, and playwright who was a leading figure in modern Hebrew literature. Her works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
Another notable Leah was Leah Ainslie (1883-1964), a British suffragette and activist who fought for women's rights and played a significant role in the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom.
In the realm of science, Leah Edelstein-Keshet (born 1953) is a renowned Canadian mathematician and scientist known for her contributions to the field of mathematical biology.
Leah Chase (1923-2019) was an influential American chef and civil rights activist who played a pivotal role in the desegregation of restaurants in New Orleans during the civil rights movement.
Leah Baird (1883-1971) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter who was one of the first women to direct feature films in Hollywood during the silent era.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Leah. The name continues to be popular across various cultures and regions, carrying with it a rich history and significance.
People
Leah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leah 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
Leah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 225,020 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leah 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 1,523 US residents.
Is Leah a common name?
We classify Leah as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 253,034 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leah most popular?
The single biggest year for Leah was 2009, when 6,799 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leah is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 200,966 people with the name Leah, or 66.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #275 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Leah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Leah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leah appears almost entirely female. Of the 200,964 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Leah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leah is White at 71.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.9%) and Black (7.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Leah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.3% (143,195 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Leah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leah a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Leah in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Leah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Leah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Leah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.