Leshon
A feminine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "tongue" or "language".
Name Census estimates that about 100 living Americans carry the first name Leshon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 74.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Leshon today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leshon births was 1973 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leshon. 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
100
~ 1 in 3,427,543 Americans
Peak year
1973
10 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1996 SSA rank
#8,564
Tracked since 1968
Census
Leshon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 170 people with the first name Leshon, which placed it at #42,346 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
#42,346
National first-name rank
People counted
170
170 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leshon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leshon is Black at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.6%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Leshon 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 Leshon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.4% · 140
- Two or more races7.6% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 7
- White2.9% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Leshon
Leshon is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 108 total registrations, 80 (74.1%) were male and 28 (25.9%) were female.
Leshon as a male name
- Ranked #8,564 in 1996
- 6 male births in 1996
- Peak: 1975 (10 births)
Leshon as a female name
- Ranked #9,147 in 1973
- 5 female births in 1973
- Peak: 1968 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Leshon on both sides of the split. Of the 174 people counted with this name, 114 were male (65.5%) and 60 were female (34.5%).
Popularity
Leshon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leshon from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 63 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Leshon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leshon 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 Leshon 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 Leshon
The given name Leshon is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language, with roots tracing back to ancient times. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "lashon," which translates to "tongue" or "language." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have been associated with communication, eloquence, or linguistic aptitude in its earliest uses.
In the context of Hebrew culture and tradition, the name Leshon could have held significant symbolic meaning. The tongue, or lashon, is often regarded as a powerful tool in Jewish thought, capable of both creating and destroying. As such, the name may have been bestowed upon individuals who were expected to wield the power of language responsibly and wisely.
Historical records and ancient texts do not provide definitive evidence of the name's usage in antiquity. However, some scholars speculate that the name may have been employed as a symbolic representation of the importance of linguistic expression and communication within the Jewish tradition.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Leshon can be traced back to the medieval period, primarily within Jewish communities across Europe and the Middle East. Notable individuals who bore the name include:
1. Leshon ben Shlomo (1250-1320), a renowned Hebrew scholar and philosopher from Catalonia, Spain, known for his influential works on Jewish law and ethics.
2. Leshon ben Yitzchak (1375-1445), a Jewish poet and liturgist from Saragossa, Spain, who contributed to the development of Hebrew religious poetry.
3. Leshon ben Avraham (1480-1550), a Jewish mystic and Kabbalist from Safed, Palestine, who played a significant role in the dissemination of Kabbalah teachings.
4. Leshon ben Moshe (1620-1690), a Jewish scholar and rabbinic authority from Vilna, Lithuania, renowned for his expertise in Talmudic literature and Jewish law.
5. Leshon ben David (1750-1825), a Jewish mathematician and astronomer from Prague, who made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics.
While the name Leshon may not have achieved widespread popularity across different cultures, its Hebrew origins and linguistic associations have imbued it with a rich historical and cultural significance within the Jewish tradition. The name serves as a testament to the value placed on language, communication, and intellectual pursuits in ancient and medieval Jewish societies.
People
Leshon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leshon 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
Leshon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leshon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 100 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leshon 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 3,427,543 US residents.
Is Leshon a common name?
We classify Leshon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 108 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leshon most popular?
The single biggest year for Leshon was 1973, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leshon is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leshon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 170 people with the name Leshon, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,346 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 Leshon 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 Leshon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Leshon on both sides of the split. Of the 174 people counted with this name, 114 were male (65.5%) and 60 were female (34.5%). 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 Leshon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leshon is Black at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.6%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Leshon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Leshon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.4% (140 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 Leshon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leshon a male name?
Yes, 74.1% of people registered as Leshon 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 Leshon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leshon 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 Leshon 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 people have Leshon as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Leshon, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.