Leelah
A feminine Arabic name of Hebrew origin meaning "born at night".
Name Census estimates that about 423 living Americans carry the first name Leelah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leelah today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leelah births was 2018 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leelah. 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
423
~ 1 in 810,294 Americans
Peak year
2018
32 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,513
Tracked since 2000
Popularity
Leelah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leelah 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 255 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leelah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leelah 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 Leelah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leelahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Leelah
The name Leelah originates from the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that has been used in the Indian subcontinent for over three millennia. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "leela," which means "play" or "sport," and is often associated with the divine play or lila of the Hindu deities.
In Hindu mythology, the concept of lila refers to the playful and creative activities of the gods, particularly Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva. It represents the idea that the universe is the manifestation of the divine play, where the gods engage in various pastimes and adventures to sustain and enliven the cosmos.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Leelah can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Puranas and the Upanishads. It was often used as a name for female characters or deities who embodied the playful and joyful aspects of the divine.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Leelah was Leelah Devi, a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer who lived in the 19th century (1828-1892). She was instrumental in reviving and popularizing the Bharatanatyam dance form, which had declined during the colonial period.
Another notable figure was Leelah Naidu (1929-2009), an Indian actress and activist who appeared in several Bollywood films and was known for her philanthropic work. She was a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement and worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.
In the literary realm, Leelah Wilcox (1929-2018) was an American poet and writer who was known for her works exploring themes of spirituality, nature, and feminism. She published several poetry collections and was a recipient of the Robert Frost Award.
Leelah Patel (1937-2007) was an Indian-American mathematician and computer scientist who made significant contributions to the field of parallel computing. She was a pioneer in the development of parallel algorithms and was recognized for her work with the prestigious IEEE Computer Society Harry H. Goode Memorial Award.
In the field of music, Leelah Bateman (1947-2020) was a British singer and songwriter who was part of the folk rock movement of the 1960s and 1970s. She performed with various bands and released several solo albums, showcasing her unique blend of folk, rock, and world music influences.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Leelah, each making notable contributions in their respective fields and reflecting the playful, creative, and joyful essence associated with the name's Sanskrit origins.
People
Leelah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leelah 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
Leelah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leelah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 423 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leelah 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 810,294 US residents.
Is Leelah a common name?
We classify Leelah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 427 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leelah most popular?
The single biggest year for Leelah was 2018, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leelah is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Leelah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leelah 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.