Leanda
A feminine name of unknown origin, perhaps derived from Greek or Latin.
Name Census estimates that about 193 living Americans carry the first name Leanda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leanda today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leanda births was 1977 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leanda. 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 Leanda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
193
~ 1 in 1,775,929 Americans
Peak year
1977
13 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
1993 SSA rank
#14,745
Tracked since 1951
Census
Leanda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 296 people with the first name Leanda, which placed it at #29,744 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
#29,744
National first-name rank
People counted
296
296 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leanda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leanda is White at 56.1%. The next largest groups are Black (26.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Leanda 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 Leanda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.1% · 166
- Black or African American26.7% · 79
- Two or more races7.4% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 7
Popularity
Leanda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leanda from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 78 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leanda 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 Leanda 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 Leanda
The name Leanda has its origins in the Greek language, stemming from the word "leandros," which means "lion man" or "brave as a lion." This name gained popularity during the ancient Greek era, particularly in the regions of mainland Greece and the Greek islands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leanda can be found in the works of ancient Greek poets and playwrights, where it was often used as a character name to symbolize strength and courage. In Greek mythology, Leander was a young man from Abydos who swam across the Hellespont every night to meet his beloved Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite.
During the Byzantine period, the name Leanda continued to be used, although its popularity waned slightly. It regained prominence during the Renaissance era, particularly in Italy, where it was adopted as a feminine form of the name Leandro.
Among the notable historical figures bearing the name Leanda are Leanda di Montefeltro (1456-1509), an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts who played a significant role in the cultural renaissance of the city of Urbino. Another notable figure was Leanda Veneziani (1570-1625), an Italian poet and writer who gained recognition for her lyrical works during the late Renaissance period.
In the 19th century, the name Leanda emerged in English-speaking regions, with Leanda Stratton (1824-1908), an American author and educator, being one of the earliest recorded bearers of the name. Leanda Jenks (1841-1908), an American painter and sculptor, also contributed to the artistic legacy of the name during this period.
In the 20th century, Leanda Crabtree (1909-1994), an American educator and women's rights activist, gained recognition for her efforts in promoting equal opportunities for women in education and the workforce.
While the name Leanda has maintained a presence throughout history, its prevalence has varied across different regions and time periods, reflecting the ebb and flow of cultural influences and naming trends.
People
Leanda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leanda 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
Leanda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leanda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 193 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leanda 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 1,775,929 US residents.
Is Leanda a common name?
We classify Leanda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 215 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leanda most popular?
The single biggest year for Leanda was 1977, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leanda is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leanda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 296 people with the name Leanda, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,744 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 Leanda 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 Leanda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leanda leans strongly female. 286 people counted with this name were female (95.7%), compared with 13 male bearers (4.3%). 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 Leanda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leanda is White at 56.1%. The next largest groups are Black (26.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Leanda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leanda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.1% (166 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 Leanda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leanda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leanda 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 Leanda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leanda 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 Leanda 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 common is the name Leanda?
See how many people share the name Leanda on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.