Leelyn
An American transcription of the French name Lilian, itself from the Latin Lilium meaning "lily".
Name Census estimates that about 190 living Americans carry the first name Leelyn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Leelyn today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leelyn births was 2010 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leelyn. 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
190
~ 1 in 1,803,970 Americans
Peak year
2010
15 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,061
Tracked since 2007
Gender
Gender distribution for Leelyn
Leelyn leans heavily male at 88.0% of total registrations, but 23 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Leelyn as a male name
- Ranked #7,061 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (15 births)
Leelyn as a female name
- Ranked #12,999 in 2022
- 7 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2022 (7 births)
Popularity
Leelyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leelyn 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 119 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leelyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leelyn 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 Leelyn 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 Leelyn
The name Leelyn is a variant of the Welsh name Llewellyn, which has its origins in the medieval Welsh language. The name is derived from the elements "llyw" meaning "leader" and "llyn" meaning "lake" or "pool." Together, the name can be interpreted to mean "leader by the lake" or "leader of the lake."
Historically, the name Llewellyn was borne by several Welsh princes and rulers, including Llewellyn the Great (c. 1173-1240), a prominent figure in Welsh history who was Prince of Gwynedd and effectively ruled over most of Wales during his reign. Another notable bearer of the name was Llewellyn ap Gruffydd (c. 1223-1282), the last sovereign Prince of Wales before the conquest of the principality by Edward I of England.
The variant spelling Leelyn likely emerged as a result of anglicization and adaptation of the Welsh name over time. One of the earliest recorded examples of the spelling Leelyn can be found in the annals of the nobility of Ireland, where a Leelyn de Verdon is mentioned as a landholder in County Westmeath in the 14th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Leelyn. In the 16th century, Leelyn Gwilym (c. 1520-1590) was a Welsh poet and bard who gained prominence during the Renaissance period in Wales. In the 18th century, Leelyn Pryce (1714-1781) was a Welsh writer and historian who authored works on the history of Wales and its ancient traditions.
Moving into the 19th century, Leelyn Williams (1835-1892) was a Welsh-American architect who designed several notable buildings in Philadelphia, including the Union League of Philadelphia. In the 20th century, Leelyn Jakes (1902-1975) was a British actress and dancer who performed on stage and in films during the golden age of Hollywood.
More recently, Leelyn Englebright (1926-2018) was an American artist and illustrator known for her whimsical depictions of fairy-tale characters and mythical creatures. She published numerous children's books and her artwork has been exhibited in galleries across the United States.
People
Leelyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leelyn 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
Leelyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leelyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 190 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leelyn 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 1,803,970 US residents.
Is Leelyn a common name?
We classify Leelyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 191 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leelyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Leelyn was 2010, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leelyn is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Leelyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leelyn a male name?
Yes, 88.0% of people registered as Leelyn in the SSA data are male. 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 Leelyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leelyn 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 Leelyn 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Leelyn?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Leelyn at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.