How rare is the name Leif?

7,704 people in the United States have the first name Leif, about 1 in 39,205. It ranks #2,933 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

LEIF

#2,933

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
7,704
About
1 in 39,205
This common or more
81.2%
Who bears it

Of the 7,704 people named Leif, 87.1% reported their origin as White, 5.3% as two or more races and 4.4% as Hispanic or Latino. 99.3% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Leif peaked in 2022, when 290 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19122025
Peak year
2022
Births that year
290
In 2025*
257 ▼11%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 10,002 babies have been given the name since 1912. 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.

Leif by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #1,807. The largest share of babies named Leif, 29.7%, were born in 2013 or later.

1910s#3,572127
1920s#4,642126
1930s#4,428111
1940s#3,422196
1950s#2,571442
1960s#1,931886
1970s#1,8071,158
1980s#1,9271,236
1990s#2,900878
2000s#2,7281,329
2010s#2,2321,971
2020s#1,8871,542
Greatest Generation 1901–272.2%
Silent Generation 1928–452.3%
Baby boom 1946–649.4%
Generation X 1965–8018.1%
Millennials 1981–9616.6%
Generation Z 1997–1221.5%
2013 and later29.7%

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 Leif is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Leif has been most common in Washington (6.8×), Minnesota (5.5×), and Alaska (4.6×), and least common in New Jersey (0.2×).

5,591 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 Leif

#2,931 Nana · 7,719#2,932 Tariq · 7,707#2,934 Blaise · 7,702#2,934 Truman · 7,702

Spelled almost the same

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

#28,373 Leib · 317#29,690 Leaf · 297

Also a last name

As a last name, Leif ranks #57,536 of 156,621, with 382 people. See Leif as a last name

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