Leonna
Feminine variant of Leo or Leon, meaning "lioness" or "brave as a lion".
Name Census estimates that about 1,288 living Americans carry the first name Leonna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leonna today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leonna births was 2009 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leonna. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Leonna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 266,114 Americans
Peak year
2009
49 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,602
Tracked since 1945
Census
Leonna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,041 people with the first name Leonna, which placed it at #12,081 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
#12,081
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,041 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
43.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leonna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leonna is Black at 43.1%. The next largest groups are White (37.6%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Leonna 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 Leonna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American43.1% · 449
- White37.6% · 391
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 73
- Two or more races6.9% · 72
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 25
Popularity
Leonna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leonna from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 384 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leonna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leonna 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 Leonna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leonnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Florida, Ohio recorded the most babies named Leonna, while Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leonna
The name Leonna has its roots in the Greek language, originating from the word "leon," which means "lion." It is a feminine form of the male name Leon, and its origins can be traced back to ancient Greece during the classical era.
Historically, the name was closely associated with strength, courage, and nobility, as the lion was often regarded as a symbol of these qualities in Greek mythology. In some ancient texts, the name Leonna was used to refer to brave and valiant women who displayed remarkable fortitude in the face of adversity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leonna can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, who lived in the 1st century AD. He mentioned a woman named Leonna who was renowned for her bravery during a military conflict.
Throughout the ages, several notable women have borne the name Leonna. One of the most famous was Leonna of Burgundy (1163-1162), a noblewoman and the wife of King Richard I of England, also known as Richard the Lionheart. Another prominent figure was Leonna Vicario (1789-1842), a Mexican patriot and independence activist who played a crucial role in the Mexican War of Independence.
In the realm of literature, the name Leonna has been immortalized in works such as the novel "The Lions of Al-Rassan" by Guy Gavriel Kay, where a character named Leonna is depicted as a strong-willed and courageous woman. Additionally, the name has been used in various works of fiction and poetry, often symbolizing strength and determination.
Other notable individuals who have carried the name Leonna include Leonna Jennings (1911-1998), an American actress and singer, and Leonna Vicario (1789-1842), a Mexican patriot and independence activist.
While the name Leonna has undergone various spellings and variations throughout history, its connection to the lion and the qualities associated with this majestic animal have remained a constant thread, making it a name that evokes a sense of power, resilience, and nobility.
People
Leonna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leonna 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
Leonna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leonna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,288 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leonna 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 266,114 US residents.
Is Leonna a common name?
We classify Leonna as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,347 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leonna most popular?
The single biggest year for Leonna was 2009, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leonna is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leonna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,041 people with the name Leonna, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,081 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 Leonna 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 Leonna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leonna appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,039 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Leonna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leonna is Black at 43.1%. The next largest groups are White (37.6%) and Hispanic (7.0%). 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 Leonna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Leonna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.1% (449 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 Leonna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leonna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leonna 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 Leonna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leonna 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 Leonna 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 Leonna?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Leonna at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.