Leata
A feminine name of Polynesian origin meaning "cheerful" or "pleasant".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Leata. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leata today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leata births was 1920 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leata. 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 Leata is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Leatas were born before 1957.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Leata. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1920
9 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1950 SSA rank
#3,821
Tracked since 1897
Census
Leata in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 118 people with the first name Leata, which placed it at #50,661 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
#50,661
National first-name rank
People counted
118
118 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leata
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leata is White at 44.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.0%) and Black (12.7%). 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 Leata 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 Leata at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.9% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander28.0% · 33
- Black or African American12.7% · 15
- Two or more races7.6% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 3
Popularity
Leata: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leata from the 1890s through to the 1950s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 26 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Leata remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leata 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 Leata 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 Leata
The name Leata is a variant of the Hawaiian name Leia. It is derived from the Hawaiian word "lei," which means "flower garland" or "wreath." The name likely originated in the Hawaiian Islands during the early centuries of the first millennium, when the Polynesian seafarers first settled in the region.
While the name Leata does not appear to have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is closely related to the name Leia, which has been used in Hawaiian culture for centuries. The earliest recorded examples of the name Leata can be traced back to the late 19th century, when Hawaiian names began to be more widely documented.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Leata was Leata Fuller, an American author and playwright who lived from 1909 to 1977. She was known for her works that explored themes of race, identity, and social justice.
Another notable individual with the name Leata was Leata Galloway, an American civil rights activist who lived from 1923 to 2008. She was a prominent figure in the fight for racial equality and desegregation in the United States during the mid-20th century.
In the realm of sports, Leata Awinyo was a Ugandan sprinter who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada. She was born in 1952 and represented her country in the 100-meter and 200-meter events.
Leata Katene was a New Zealand politician who served as a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2005 to 2014. She was born in 1961 and was a member of the Maori Party, advocating for the rights and interests of the indigenous Maori people.
Lastly, Leata Laki was a Tongan artist and painter who lived from 1938 to 2018. She was renowned for her vibrant depictions of Tongan culture, traditions, and landscapes, and her works are celebrated both locally and internationally.
People
Leata + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leata 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
Leata: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leata?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leata 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Leata a common name?
We classify Leata as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 61 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leata most popular?
The single biggest year for Leata was 1920, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leata is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leata in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 118 people with the name Leata, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,661 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 Leata 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 Leata?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leata appears almost entirely female. Of the 114 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Leata?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leata is White at 44.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.0%) and Black (12.7%). 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 Leata most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leata in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.9% (53 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 Leata in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leata a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leata 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 Leata still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leata 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 Leata 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 people have Leata as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Leata on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.