How common is the name Leah?

200,964 people in the United States have the first name Leah, about 1 in 1,503. It ranks #275 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

LEAH

#275

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
200,964
About
1 in 1,503
This common or more
47.4%
Who bears it

Of the 200,964 people named Leah, 71.3% reported their origin as White, 12.9% as Hispanic or Latino and 7.4% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Leah peaked in 2009, when 6,799 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2009
Births that year
6,799
In 2025*
3,880 ▼43%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 256,954 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Leah by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2010s, when it ranked #104. The largest share of babies named Leah, 28.8%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#381809
1890s#3141,671
1900s#3681,747
1910s#4614,253
1920s#5874,453
1930s#6273,539
1940s#7383,495
1950s#6465,960
1960s#45212,775
1970s#27821,221
1980s#16736,210
1990s#20934,138
2000s#16645,510
2010s#10456,113
2020s#13525,060
Before 19011%
Greatest Generation 1901–273.7%
Silent Generation 1928–452.4%
Baby boom 1946–645%
Generation X 1965–8012.6%
Millennials 1981–9622.2%
Generation Z 1997–1228.8%
2013 and later24.3%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Leah is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Leah has been most common in Alaska (1.5×), Nevada (1.4×), and Florida (1.4×), and least common in Mississippi (0.52×).

249,569 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Leah

#273 Frances · 201,693#274 Derek · 201,259#276 Chloe · 200,400#277 Michele · 199,114

Spelled almost the same

5 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Leah, most common first.

#1,241 Lea · 30,568#11,887 Leeah · 1,063#12,367 Leiah · 1,009#13,474 Leyah · 895#18,954 Leaha · 564

Also a last name

As a last name, Leah ranks #69,002 of 156,621, with 307 people. See Leah as a last name

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