Leanette
A feminine form of the French name Léonette, meaning "little lioness".
Name Census estimates that about 141 living Americans carry the first name Leanette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leanette today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leanette births was 1967 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leanette. 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
141
~ 1 in 2,430,882 Americans
Peak year
1967
12 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,443
Tracked since 1960
Census
Leanette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 229 people with the first name Leanette, which placed it at #35,223 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
#35,223
National first-name rank
People counted
229
229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
44.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leanette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leanette is Hispanic at 44.1%. The next largest groups are Black (26.6%) and White (22.3%). 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 Leanette 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 Leanette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino44.1% · 101
- Black or African American26.6% · 61
- White22.3% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 8
- Two or more races3.1% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Leanette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leanette from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 47 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leanette 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 Leanette 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 Leanette
The name Leanette is a feminine given name derived from the French name Léonette, which is a diminutive form of the name Léon. The name Léon itself has its origins in the Latin name Leo, meaning "lion." The name Leanette was particularly popular in France during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period.
The earliest recorded use of the name Leanette can be traced back to the 13th century in France. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was Leanette de Bourbon, a French noblewoman who lived during the 13th century. She was a descendant of the renowned House of Bourbon and played a significant role in the political affairs of her time.
In the realm of literature, the name Leanette has been mentioned in several works throughout history. One notable instance is in the 16th-century French novel "L'Astrée" by Honoré d'Urfé, where a character named Leanette appears as a shepherdess. This literary work was highly influential in its time and contributed to the popularization of the name.
Another notable figure named Leanette was Leanette de Buren, a Dutch painter born in 1593. She was one of the few renowned female artists of her time and is remembered for her exceptional skill in portraiture and still-life paintings.
During the 17th century, the name Leanette gained popularity in England, particularly among the aristocracy. One notable bearer of this name was Lady Leanette Duncombe, born in 1663. She was a prominent figure in English high society and known for her patronage of the arts.
In the 18th century, Leanette Dulong, a French chemist and physicist born in 1782, made significant contributions to the field of thermodynamics. She was the first woman to be appointed as a professor at the École Polytechnique in Paris, breaking barriers for women in science.
While the name Leanette has seen a decline in popularity in recent times, it remains a beautiful and historically significant name with rich cultural roots. Its connection to the French language and its association with notable figures throughout history have contributed to its enduring charm and appeal.
People
Leanette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leanette 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
Leanette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leanette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leanette 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 2,430,882 US residents.
Is Leanette a common name?
We classify Leanette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 154 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leanette most popular?
The single biggest year for Leanette was 1967, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leanette is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leanette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 229 people with the name Leanette, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,223 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 Leanette 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 Leanette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leanette leans strongly female. 236 people counted with this name were female (97.5%), compared with 6 male bearers (2.5%). 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 Leanette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leanette is Hispanic at 44.1%. The next largest groups are Black (26.6%) and White (22.3%). 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 Leanette most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Leanette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.1% (101 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 Leanette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leanette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leanette 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 Leanette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leanette 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 Leanette 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 Leanette?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.