Leba
A feminine form of a Hebrew name meaning "fragrant bread".
Name Census estimates that about 198 living Americans carry the first name Leba. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leba today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leba births was 2020 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leba. 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
198
~ 1 in 1,731,083 Americans
Peak year
2020
20 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,512
Tracked since 1977
Census
Leba in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 248 people with the first name Leba, which placed it at #33,395 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
#33,395
National first-name rank
People counted
248
248 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leba
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leba is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Black (7.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.2%). 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 Leba 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 Leba at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.1% · 211
- Black or African American7.7% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
- Two or more races0.8% · 2
Popularity
Leba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leba from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 76 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leba 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 Leba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lebas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Leba
The name Leba is of Hebrew origin, derived from the Hebrew word "lev," meaning "heart." This connection to the heart suggests a name associated with warmth, compassion, and emotional depth. The exact time period in which the name first emerged is uncertain, but it likely traces its roots back to ancient Hebrew culture and language.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing the name Leba was a prominent Jewish scholar and poet, Leba ben Betzalel, who lived in the 16th century. Born in Poland in 1525, Leba ben Betzalel was renowned for his contributions to Jewish literature and his intricate poetic works that explored themes of faith, wisdom, and the human experience.
Another notable figure with the name Leba was Leba Rivkin, a Russian-born anarchist and activist who lived from 1876 to 1944. Rivkin was a passionate advocate for workers' rights and social justice, dedicating her life to the advancement of anarchist ideals and the betterment of society's underprivileged.
In the realm of literature, Leba Stein, a Russian-born writer and translator, made her mark in the early 20th century. Born in 1884, Stein's work focused on translating notable Russian literature into English, helping to bridge cultural gaps and promote cross-cultural understanding through the written word.
The name Leba also has historical significance in the field of medicine. Leba Kadison, a renowned Russian physician who lived from 1868 to 1942, was a pioneer in the treatment of infectious diseases and made significant contributions to public health initiatives in her home country.
Lastly, Leba Braverman, a Polish-born artist and sculptor who lived from 1892 to 1976, left an indelible mark on the art world with her avant-garde sculptures and installations. Her work often explored themes of identity, feminism, and the human condition, earning her recognition as a influential figure in the modernist art movement.
People
Leba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leba 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
Leba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 198 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leba 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 1,731,083 US residents.
Is Leba a common name?
We classify Leba as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 201 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leba most popular?
The single biggest year for Leba was 2020, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leba is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leba in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 248 people with the name Leba, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,395 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 Leba 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 Leba?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leba leans strongly female. 237 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 8 male bearers (3.3%). 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 Leba?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leba is White at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Black (7.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.2%). 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 Leba most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leba in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (211 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 Leba in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leba a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leba 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 Leba still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leba 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 Leba 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 the name Leba?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.