Leean
A diminutive of the Irish name Liana, meaning "little fighter or warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 75 living Americans carry the first name Leean. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leean today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leean births was 2009 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leean. 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 Leean with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Leean. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
75
~ 1 in 4,570,058 Americans
Peak year
2009
9 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2013 SSA rank
#18,119
Tracked since 1955
Census
Leean in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 271 people with the first name Leean, which placed it at #31,559 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
#31,559
National first-name rank
People counted
271
271 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leean
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leean is White at 52.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.0%) and Black (9.6%). 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 Leean 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 Leean at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.8% · 143
- Hispanic or Latino24.0% · 65
- Black or African American9.6% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.6% · 26
- Two or more races4.1% · 11
Popularity
Leean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leean from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 23 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
Leean 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 Leean 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 Leean
The name Leean is believed to have originated from the Old English language, which was spoken in parts of Britain from the 5th to the 12th centuries. It is derived from the Old English word "lēan," meaning "to reward" or "to give back." This suggests that the name Leean may have been associated with individuals who were generous, rewarding, or reciprocal in their actions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leean can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals that documented the history of the Anglo-Saxons from the 9th century onwards. The name appears in an entry from the year 867, where it is mentioned as the name of a nobleman who played a role in a battle against Danish invaders.
In the 11th century, a figure named Leean was recorded as a member of the clergy in the town of Winchester, England. This individual is believed to have been a scholar and a scribe, contributing to the preservation of knowledge and literature during a time when monastic centers were crucial for learning and education.
During the Middle Ages, the name Leean was also associated with a renowned poet and philosopher from the city of Exeter. Born in 1204, Leean of Exeter was known for his works that combined elements of poetry, philosophy, and theology. His writings were widely circulated and studied across Europe, influencing intellectual discourse in the 13th century.
In the 16th century, a prominent figure named Leean played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation. Leean Tyndale, born in 1494, was an English scholar and translator who was instrumental in translating the Bible into English from the original Greek and Hebrew texts. His work paved the way for wider access to Scripture and contributed to the spread of Protestantism in England.
Another notable individual with the name Leean was a Scottish explorer and adventurer born in 1678. Leean Macpherson was known for his expeditions into the uncharted territories of North America, where he made important discoveries and documented his travels, contributing to the knowledge of the region's geography and indigenous cultures.
While the name Leean may not have been as common as some other given names, it has left its mark throughout history, with individuals bearing this name making significant contributions in various fields, from literature and religion to exploration and scholarship.
People
Leean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leean 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
Leean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 75 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leean 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 4,570,058 US residents.
Is Leean a common name?
We classify Leean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 83 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leean most popular?
The single biggest year for Leean was 2009, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leean is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leean in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 271 people with the name Leean, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,559 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 Leean 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 Leean?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leean leans strongly female. 252 people counted with this name were female (92.0%), compared with 22 male bearers (8.0%). 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 Leean?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leean is White at 52.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.0%) and Black (9.6%). 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 Leean most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leean in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.8% (143 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 Leean in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leean a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leean 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 Leean still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leean 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 Leean 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 Americans are named Leean?
See how many people share the name Leean on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.