Leita
A Latinized form of the Old Norse name "Leit" meaning "search" or "to seek".
Name Census estimates that about 222 living Americans carry the first name Leita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leita today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leita births was 1916 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leita. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Leita is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Leitas were born before 1968.
People living today
222
~ 1 in 1,543,938 Americans
Peak year
1916
20 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2002 SSA rank
#16,999
Tracked since 1893
Census
Leita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 395 people with the first name Leita, which placed it at #24,413 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
#24,413
National first-name rank
People counted
395
395 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leita is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (7.1%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Leita 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 Leita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.0% · 324
- Black or African American7.1% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.3% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 6
- Two or more races1.5% · 6
Popularity
Leita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leita from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 125 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leita 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 Leita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leitas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Leita
The name Leita is a feminine given name of Old Norse origin, derived from the Old Norse word "leita," which means "to search" or "to seek." It is believed to have emerged during the Viking Age, which spanned from the 8th to the 11th centuries.
The name was primarily used in Scandinavia, particularly in areas such as Norway, Sweden, and Iceland, where the Norse culture and language were prevalent. Its earliest recorded use can be traced back to the Icelandic sagas and other literary works from the medieval period.
One of the earliest known historical references to the name Leita can be found in the Icelandic Laxdæla saga, a renowned literary work from the 13th century. In this saga, Leita is mentioned as the name of a female character, although her specific role or significance is not clearly documented.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Leita. One of the earliest recorded examples is Leita Olafsdottir (c. 1220 - c. 1290), an Icelandic noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in the political affairs of her time.
Another prominent figure was Leita Þorvaldsdottir (c. 1345 - c. 1410), a renowned Icelandic poet and scholar who contributed to the preservation of Old Norse literature and mythology. Her works were widely respected and influential during the medieval period.
In the 16th century, Leita Jónsdottir (c. 1520 - c. 1585) was a notable Icelandic painter and illuminator of manuscripts, known for her intricate and detailed work on religious texts and historical documents.
Moving into the modern era, Leita Arnadottir (1868 - 1945) was an Icelandic educator and women's rights activist who played a crucial role in advocating for gender equality and advancing educational opportunities for women in Iceland.
Lastly, Leita Halldorsdottir (1932 - 2019) was a prominent Icelandic writer and poet whose works explored themes of nature, love, and the human condition. Her poetry and prose were widely celebrated and earned her numerous literary awards and honors.
While the name Leita has its roots in Old Norse culture and language, it has maintained a presence throughout history, carried by individuals who have left their mark in various fields, from literature and art to politics and social activism.
People
Leita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leita 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
Leita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 222 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leita 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 1,543,938 US residents.
Is Leita a common name?
We classify Leita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 720 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leita most popular?
The single biggest year for Leita was 1916, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leita is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 395 people with the name Leita, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,413 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 Leita 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 Leita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leita appears almost entirely female. Of the 404 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Leita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leita is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (7.1%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Leita most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (324 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 Leita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leita 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 Leita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leita 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 Leita 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 Leita?
See how many Americans are named Leita on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.