Leyna
An Arabic feminine name meaning "tender and delicate".
Name Census estimates that about 2,083 living Americans carry the first name Leyna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leyna today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leyna births was 2006 (117 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leyna. 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 Leyna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 164,548 Americans
Peak year
2006
117 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,075
Tracked since 1978
Census
Leyna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,913 people with the first name Leyna, which placed it at #7,798 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
#7,798
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,913 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leyna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leyna is White at 43.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (31.5%) and Hispanic (15.7%). 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 Leyna 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 Leyna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.8% · 837
- Asian and Pacific Islander31.5% · 603
- Hispanic or Latino15.7% · 300
- Two or more races5.5% · 105
- Black or African American3.3% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Popularity
Leyna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leyna from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 764 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leyna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leyna 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 Leyna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leynas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Leyna, while Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leyna
The name Leyna finds its origins in the Persian language, with roots tracing back to the ancient Persia region of the Middle East. It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period, around the 7th to 13th centuries CE.
The name Leyna is derived from the Persian word "Leyna," which means "soft" or "gentle." It was likely given to newborn girls as a symbolic representation of their anticipated gentle and nurturing nature. The name's spelling has remained relatively consistent throughout history, with minor variations such as "Laina" or "Layna" appearing in certain regions.
Historical records suggest that the name Leyna appeared in various Persian literary works and manuscripts from the medieval era. It was particularly popular among the nobility and upper classes of Persian society during that time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leyna can be found in the Persian epic poem "Shahnameh" (Book of Kings), written by the renowned poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century CE. The poem features a character named Leyna, although the specific details surrounding her role are not widely known.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Leyna. One such person was Leyna al-Qarawi (1090-1165 CE), a renowned Persian scholar and poet who made significant contributions to the fields of literature and philosophy during the Islamic Golden Age.
Another famous Leyna was Leyna Bint Al-Husayn (1150-1220 CE), a highly respected Islamic scholar and teacher from the Abbasid Caliphate. She was known for her extensive knowledge of Quranic studies and Islamic jurisprudence.
In the realm of art and literature, Leyna Khayri (1870-1948) was a celebrated Egyptian painter and writer who played a pivotal role in the cultural renaissance of Egypt during the early 20th century.
Moving forward in time, Leyna Bloom (born in 1993) is a contemporary American actress and model who has gained recognition for her activism and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community.
Lastly, Leyna Gandelman (1944-2021) was a prominent French-Israeli sculptor and visual artist known for her abstract and minimalist works, which have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
While these are just a few examples, the name Leyna has been carried by numerous individuals throughout history, each leaving their unique mark in various fields and cultures.
People
Leyna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leyna 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
Leyna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leyna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,083 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leyna 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 164,548 US residents.
Is Leyna a common name?
We classify Leyna as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,120 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leyna most popular?
The single biggest year for Leyna was 2006, when 117 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leyna is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leyna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,913 people with the name Leyna, or 0.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,798 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 Leyna 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 Leyna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leyna appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,917 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 Leyna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leyna is White at 43.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (31.5%) and Hispanic (15.7%). 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 Leyna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leyna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.8% (837 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 Leyna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leyna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leyna 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 Leyna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leyna 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 Leyna 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 are named Leyna?
Find out how many Americans are named Leyna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.