Leanny
A feminine name derived from the name Eleanor, meaning "light" or "shining one".
Name Census estimates that about 218 living Americans carry the first name Leanny. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leanny today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leanny births was 2009 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leanny. 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
218
~ 1 in 1,572,268 Americans
Peak year
2009
19 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,779
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Leanny: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leanny from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 99 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leanny remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leanny 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 Leanny during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leannys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Leanny
The name Leanny is a variation of the French name Léanne, which ultimately derives from the Hebrew name Leah. The name Leah comes from the Hebrew word "leah," meaning "weary" or "tired." It was the name of one of the two wives of the biblical patriarch Jacob in the Book of Genesis.
Leah was the daughter of Laban and the older sister of Rachel. In the biblical account, Jacob initially intended to marry Rachel but was deceived by Laban into marrying Leah first. Leah went on to bear Jacob six sons, including Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, who became the founders of six of the twelve tribes of Israel.
The name Leah has been in use since ancient times, and variations of it can be found in various languages and cultures throughout history. The French form Léanne emerged as a variant of the name during the Middle Ages, and Leanny is a modern English spelling variation of this French name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leanny can be found in the works of the 16th-century English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. In his play "King Henry VI, Part 1," written around 1591, Shakespeare mentions a character named "Lady Leanny."
Another notable historical figure with the name Leanny was Leanny Isitt Bourne, a 19th-century British writer and poet who lived from 1829 to 1904. She published several works, including "The Life of Phillis Wheatley" and "The Poetry of Phillis Wheatley."
In the 20th century, Leanny Pinckard Shattuck (1903-1994) was an American author and journalist who wrote for various publications, including The New York Times and The New Yorker.
Leanny Muir (1937-2012) was a Canadian artist and painter known for her abstract expressionist works, which were exhibited in galleries across North America.
Leanny Godfrey (born 1947) is a British actress who has appeared in various television shows and films, including "EastEnders" and "The Bill."
While the name Leanny may not be as common as some other variations of the name Leah, it has a rich historical background and has been borne by notable individuals throughout the centuries.
People
Leanny + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leanny 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
Leanny: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leanny?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 218 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leanny 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 1,572,268 US residents.
Is Leanny a common name?
We classify Leanny as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 220 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leanny most popular?
The single biggest year for Leanny was 2009, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leanny is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Leanny a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leanny 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.
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.