Leigha
A feminine name derived from the English word "leigh", meaning a meadow.
Name Census estimates that about 6,374 living Americans carry the first name Leigha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leigha today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leigha births was 2011 (267 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leigha. 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
6.4K
~ 1 in 53,774 Americans
Peak year
2011
267 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,415
Tracked since 1961
Popularity
Leigha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leigha from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,822 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leigha 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 Leigha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leighas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, New York recorded the most babies named Leigha, while Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 122 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leigha
The name Leigha is a relatively modern variant of the name Leigh, which has its roots in the Old English word "leah" meaning a meadow, clearing, or field. The name was initially used as a surname in England, referring to someone who lived near or in a meadow.
In the 12th century, the name Leigh began to be used as a given name, particularly for boys. It was a popular choice among the Anglo-Norman nobility and gentry. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leigh being used as a given name dates back to 1182, when a man named Leigh de Longchamp was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire.
The name Leigha emerged as a variant spelling of Leigh in the late 20th century, likely as a way to add a more feminine touch to the traditionally masculine name. While the name Leigh has a long history, the spelling Leigha is relatively modern and does not have any significant historical references or notable bearers from earlier periods.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leigha can be found in the 1940s. Leigha Bingham, an American actress, was born in 1948 and appeared in several television shows and films during the 1970s and 1980s.
Another notable bearer of the name Leigha was Leigha Brown, an Australian sprinter who competed in the Commonwealth Games and represented Australia in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
In literature, the name Leigha was used for a character in the novel "The Spiral Staircase" by Karen Armstrong, published in 2004.
While the name Leigha is not as common as its parent name Leigh, it has gained some popularity in recent decades as a unique and feminine alternative to the traditional spelling.
People
Leigha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leigha 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
Leigha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leigha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,374 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leigha 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 53,774 US residents.
Is Leigha a common name?
We classify Leigha as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,556 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leigha most popular?
The single biggest year for Leigha was 2011, when 267 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leigha is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Leigha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leigha 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.