Leonhart
A German masculine given name derived from "lion" and "hardy".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Leonhart. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Leonhart today is around 3 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leonhart births was 2023 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leonhart. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Leonhart. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
2023
6 babies that year
Average age
3
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,671
Tracked since 2023
Popularity
Leonhart: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Leonhart 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 Leonhart during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Leonhart
The name Leonhart is of German origin, derived from the elements "leon" meaning "lion" and "hart" meaning "brave" or "hardy." It likely emerged during the Middle Ages, a time when German names often carried symbolic meanings related to strength, courage, and other virtues prized by medieval society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leonhart dates back to the 13th century, when a knight named Leonhart von Eisenburg was mentioned in a chronicle from the region of Franconia, in present-day Germany. The name gained popularity among the German nobility and upper classes during this period, as parents sought to imbue their sons with the qualities embodied by the name's meaning.
In the 16th century, the name Leonhart appeared in the writings of the German reformer Martin Luther, who referred to a follower by that name in one of his letters. This suggests that the name had spread beyond the aristocracy and was in use among the general population by that time.
Notable historical figures bearing the name Leonhart include Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566), a German botanist and physician who made significant contributions to the study of plants and their medicinal properties. Another important figure was Leonhart Rauwolf (1535-1596), a German botanist and traveler who explored the Middle East and brought back numerous plant specimens to Europe.
In the realm of literature, the name Leonhart was immortalized by the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his novel "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship," where one of the characters is named Leonhart. This work, published in 1795-1796, helped to further cement the name's place in German culture.
Other notable individuals named Leonhart throughout history include Leonhart Danner (1497-1559), a German painter and wood carver known for his religious works, and Leonhart Schröter (1532-1601), a German mathematician and astronomer who made important calculations related to the motion of celestial bodies.
People
Leonhart + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leonhart 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
Leonhart: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leonhart?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leonhart 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Leonhart a common name?
We classify Leonhart as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leonhart most popular?
The single biggest year for Leonhart was 2023, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leonhart is about 3 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 Leonhart in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leonhart a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leonhart 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 Leonhart still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leonhart 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 Leonhart 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 people are called Leonhart?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Leonhart, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.