Leaman
A variant spelling of the Middle English masculine name Leman derived from "leof" meaning beloved, dear.
Name Census estimates that about 25 living Americans carry the first name Leaman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Leaman today is around 81 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leaman births was 1916 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leaman. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Leaman is about 81 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Leamans were born before 1955.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Leaman. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
25
~ 1 in 13,710,174 Americans
Peak year
1916
13 babies that year
Average age
81
years old
1968 SSA rank
#4,480
Tracked since 1912
Census
Leaman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 106 people with the first name Leaman, which placed it at #52,574 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
#52,574
National first-name rank
People counted
106
106 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leaman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leaman is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Black (13.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Leaman 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 Leaman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.2% · 85
- Black or African American13.2% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 3
- Two or more races2.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Popularity
Leaman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leaman from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 39 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leaman 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 Leaman 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 Leaman
Leaman is a masculine given name with its origins rooted in the Old English language. It emerged during the Anglo-Saxon era, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD, in the region now known as England. The name is believed to be derived from the Old English words "leoma," meaning "light" or "radiance," and "mann," meaning "man."
This combination of words suggests that Leaman was originally bestowed upon individuals who exhibited a bright or radiant presence or character. It may have been used to describe someone with a luminous personality or a person who brought enlightenment to those around them.
While the name does not have a direct association with any specific historical figures or religious texts, its Old English roots place it firmly within the cultural and linguistic context of the Anglo-Saxon people who inhabited England during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leaman can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land and property commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry mentions a person named Leaman as a landowner in the county of Hertfordshire.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Leaman. One such individual was Leaman Halstead (1833-1913), an American businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, in the late 19th century.
Another prominent figure was Leaman Trumbull (1807-1896), an American politician and jurist who served as a United States Senator from Illinois and played a significant role in shaping the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery.
In the realm of literature, Leaman Kendrick (1909-1998) was an influential American author and educator known for his contributions to the development of children's literature and his advocacy for diversity and inclusivity in publishing.
The name Leaman has also been borne by individuals in the field of sports, such as Leaman Trippett (1910-1989), an American baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1930s.
Lastly, Leaman Morrison (1867-1944) was a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th Premier of Prince Edward Island from 1923 to 1927, making significant contributions to the province's political landscape.
People
Leaman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leaman 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
Leaman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leaman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 25 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leaman 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 13,710,174 US residents.
Is Leaman a common name?
We classify Leaman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 135 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leaman most popular?
The single biggest year for Leaman was 1916, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leaman is about 81 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leaman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 106 people with the name Leaman, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #52,574 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 Leaman 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 Leaman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leaman appears almost entirely male. Of the 101 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Leaman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leaman is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Black (13.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Leaman most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leaman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.2% (85 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 Leaman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leaman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leaman 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.
Is Leaman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leaman 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 Leaman 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 Leaman?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.