How popular is the baby name Leah in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Leah.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Leah


Posts that mention the name Leah

Popular baby names in New York City, 2023

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

Last year, New York City welcomed 98,389 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma (for the seventh year in a row) and Liam (for the eighth year in a row), according to the New York City Health Department.

Here are NYC’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Emma, 382 baby girls
  2. Mia
  3. Sophia
  4. Olivia
  5. Isabella
  6. Amelia
  7. Leah (ranked 53rd for girls nationally in 2023)
  8. Chloe (26th)
  9. Luna
  10. Sofia (12th)

Boy names

  1. Liam, 743 baby boys
  2. Noah
  3. David (ranked 27th for boys nationally in 2023)
  4. Lucas
  5. Jacob (36th)
  6. Ethan (25th)
  7. Joseph (29th)
  8. Dylan (34th)
  9. Michael [tie] (16th)
  10. Muhammad [tie] (272nd)

In the girls’ top 10, Chloe and Sofia replaced Ava and Esther.

In the boys’ top 10, Dylan, Michael, and Muhammad replaced Aiden, Daniel, and Alexander.

Both Dylan and Muhammad — which was the #1 boy name in England and Wales last year — are new to NYC’s top 10. Michael, on the other hand, was a “favorite among New Yorkers from 1980 to 2006.”

The Health Department’s news release also mentioned dozens of other Big Apple baby names, including…

Girl namesBoy names
Esther (ranked 12th), Miriam (15th), Aurora (41st), Violet (45th), Rose (52nd), Eleanor (56th), Gemma (78th), Athena (79th), Savannah (85th), Iris (87th), Daisy (93rd), Sage (100th)Alexander (ranked 17th), Zion (62nd), Leonardo (65th), Milan (70th), Adonis (76th), Amari (78th)

Finally, here’s a link to New York City’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to check them out.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

Popular and unique baby names in Sweden, 2023

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

Sweden tricked us, you guys.

Last year, Statistics Sweden ominously announced that it would “stop producing name statistics.”

It neglected to mention that the country’s baby name data would continue coming out every year — that the names were simply going to be handled by a different government agency (the Swedish Tax Agency) going forward.

I wanted to be annoyed about this deception, but my annoyance evaporated after I learned that the Swedish Tax Agency had released all of the country’s 2023 baby name data — meaning that we could finally check out Sweden’s rare and unique names (yay!).

So, without further ado, let’s take a look…

Sweden welcomed 100,051 babies in 2023. What were the most popular names among these babies? Vera and Noah.

Here are Sweden’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Vera, 608 baby girls
  2. Elsa, 603
  3. Alma, 597
  4. Selma, 538
  5. Alice, 512
  6. Signe, 494
  7. Ellie, 490
  8. Olivia, 488
  9. Astrid, 470
  10. Ella, 467
  11. Stella, 447
  12. Maja, 442
  13. Freja, 434
  14. Saga, 426
  15. Alva, 415
  16. Agnes, 392
  17. Ebba, 381
  18. Leah, 375
  19. Alba, 365
  20. Hedda, 362
  21. Iris, 344
  22. Wilma, 341
  23. Ines, 339
  24. Alicia, 335
  25. Mila, 332
  26. Luna, 304
  27. Lilly, 292
  28. Sigrid, 288
  29. Elvira, 286
  30. Leia, 280
  31. Juni, 274
  32. Julia, 258
  33. Hilma, 256
  34. Clara, 253
  35. Majken, 242 (tie)
  36. Molly, 242 (tie)
  37. Ellen, 241
  38. Ester, 238 (tie)
  39. Lykke, 238 (tie)
  40. Lily, 236
  41. Nora, 232
  42. Ingrid, 226
  43. Nova, 223
  44. Edith, 205
  45. Livia, 204
  46. Sally, 203
  47. Lea, 198
  48. Tyra, 194
  49. Liv, 193
  50. Esther, 192

Boy names

  1. Noah, 687 baby boys
  2. Hugo, 652
  3. William, 565
  4. Liam, 558
  5. Nils, 536
  6. Oliver, 517
  7. Elias, 516
  8. Adam, 507
  9. August, 506
  10. Sam, 504
  11. Alfred, 485
  12. Otto, 479
  13. Leo, 463
  14. Leon, 415
  15. Frans, 414
  16. Charlie, 388
  17. Olle, 372
  18. Theo, 366
  19. Harry, 362
  20. Arvid, 351
  21. Ludvig, 350
  22. Malte, 345
  23. Ebbe, 338 (tie)
  24. Lucas, 338 (tie)
  25. Tage, 330
  26. Elliot, 327
  27. Henry, 326
  28. Adrian, 322
  29. Gabriel, 319
  30. Elton, 318
  31. Ted, 317
  32. Walter, 314
  33. Vincent, 296
  34. Alexander, 294 (tie)
  35. Oscar, 294 (tie)
  36. Valter, 293
  37. Benjamin, 282
  38. Noel, 274 (tie)
  39. Theodor, 274 (tie)
  40. Jack, 268 (tie)
  41. Viggo, 268 (tie)
  42. Axel, 264
  43. Albin, 256
  44. Melker, 251
  45. Levi, 240
  46. Isak, 236
  47. Dante, 233
  48. Lukas, 230
  49. Matteo, 226
  50. Hjalmar, 225

The top names of 2022, Astrid and William, dropped to ninth place and third place, respectively.

The boys’ top 100 included Ture (53rd), Vidar (55th), Loke (71st), and Bill (97th).

The girls’ top 100 included Tuva (66th), Stina (75th), Lo (78th), and Eira (81st).

Farther down on the girls’ list I spotted Madicken, which was given to 15 babies last year. Swedish author Astrid Lindgren featured a fictional 7-year-old girl named Margareta “Madicken” Engström in several of her children’s books. (Lindgren had named the character after a childhood friend, Anne-Marie, whose nickname was Madicken.)

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a sampling of the more than 8,000 names that were bestowed just once in Sweden last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Älva, Bergþóra, Cyrine, Dahlina, Elfie, Frigga, Glittra, Holland, Iseline, Jinjin, Källa, Lavendel, Minélle, Neoliva, Ornina, Pommelinn, Qellie, Rauline, Sigunn, Thaïs, Undin, Virvla, Winta, Xanne, Yrja, ZtellaAsterix, Bornwell, Casbian, Delton, Ejnar, Frenne, Grimm, Hälge, Ingemund, Jingda, Kasjan, Lillebror, Mjalton, Nille, Öivind, Palomino, Qingfeng, Robiel, Skjómi, Toste, Uzeer, Villie, Williott, Xanto, Yosia, Zillas

Some definitions/associations for a few of the above:

  • Glittra means “to glitter” in Swedish.
  • Källa means “source” in Swedish. (Originally it referred to a source of water, such as a spring or a well.)
  • Lavendel means “lavender” in Swedish (and several other languages).
  • Lillebror means “little brother” in Swedish.
  • Mjalton refers to Mjältön, an island in Sweden.
  • Skjómi, an Old Norse word meaning “a flickering light,” was used metaphorically in Skaldic poetry to refer to a drawn sword.
  • Virvla means “to whirl” in Swedish. (The related noun virvel means “vortex.”)

Sources: Elsa och Noah populäraste namnen hos nyfödda – Skatteverket, Namn på nyfödda – Skatteverket, Population statistics – Statistics Sweden, Madicken (Mardie) – Astrid Lindgren, Wiktionary, skjómi – Lexicon Poeticum, skjómi – Old Norse Dictionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)

Popular baby names in Puerto Rico, 2023

Flag of Puerto Rico
Flag of Puerto Rico

The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico welcomes roughly 19,000 babies per year.

Last year, the most popular baby names in Puerto Rico were Valentina and Thiago.

Here are Puerto Rico’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Valentina, 177 baby girls
  2. Aurora, 113 (tie)
  3. Emma, 113 (tie)
  4. Victoria, 100
  5. Catalina, 94 (tie)
  6. Luna, 94 (tie)
  7. Amaia, 89 (tie)
  8. Gianna, 89 (tie)
  9. Isabella, 88
  10. Alaia, 82
  11. Mia, 80
  12. Mikaela, 78
  13. Ainara, 75 (tie)
  14. Amira, 75 (tie)
  15. Milena, 70
  16. Amalia, 68
  17. Amanda, 66
  18. Antonella, 65
  19. Camila, 62
  20. Amelia, 61
  21. Elena, 57 (tie)
  22. Leah, 57 (tie)
  23. Paula, 56
  24. Sofia, 54
  25. Kamila, 50
  26. Gia, 47
  27. Stella, 42
  28. Mila, 41
  29. Ainhoa, 40
  30. Sophia, 39
  31. Adara, 38
  32. Lia, 36
  33. Alana, 35
  34. Amirah, 32 (4-way tie)
  35. Nahia, 32 (4-way tie)
  36. Nahiara, 32 (4-way tie)
  37. Valeria, 32 (4-way tie)
  38. Andrea, 31
  39. Paulette, 30
  40. Alanna, 29 (tie)
  41. Brianna, 29 (tie)
  42. Adhara, 28 (4-way tie)
  43. Amahia, 28 (4-way tie)
  44. Ana, 28 (4-way tie)
  45. Gabriela, 28 (4-way tie)
  46. Paulina, 27
  47. Amaya, 25 (4-way tie)
  48. Arlet, 25 (4-way tie)
  49. Katalina, 25 (4-way tie)
  50. Mariana, 25 (4-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Thiago, 290 baby boys
  2. Liam, 264
  3. Noah, 201
  4. Mateo, 156
  5. Sebastian, 146
  6. Lucas, 140
  7. Dylan, 119
  8. Ian, 115
  9. Matias, 94
  10. Adrian, 89 (tie)
  11. Elian, 89 (tie)
  12. Jayden, 84
  13. Mauro, 79
  14. Angel, 77
  15. Milan, 76
  16. Ethan, 74
  17. Nicolas, 70
  18. Jacob, 67
  19. Fabian, 66
  20. Diego, 65
  21. Elias, 63
  22. Gael, 59
  23. Aaron, 56
  24. Isaac, 51
  25. Eithan, 50 (tie)
  26. Eliam, 50 (tie)
  27. Gian, 49
  28. Enzo, 48
  29. Evan, 45 (tie)
  30. Luis, 45 (tie)
  31. Isaias, 44 (tie)
  32. Matteo, 44 (tie)
  33. Daniel, 42
  34. Julian, 40
  35. Caleb, 37
  36. Eiden, 36 (3-way tie)
  37. Gabriel, 36 (3-way tie)
  38. Matthew, 36 (3-way tie)
  39. Carlos, 34 (tie)
  40. Santiago, 34 (tie)
  41. Aiden, 33 (3-way tie)
  42. Damian, 33 (3-way tie)
  43. Dario, 33 (3-way tie)
  44. Alejandro, 32 (tie)
  45. Amir, 32 (tie)
  46. Alan, 30
  47. Alvaro, 29 (3-way tie)
  48. Keyden, 29 (3-way tie)
  49. Ryan, 29 (3-way tie)
  50. Iker, 28 (3-way tie)
  51. Jose, 28 (3-way tie)
  52. Zaid, 28 (3-way tie)

Eiden on the boys’ list caught my attention, as Eiden was also mentioned in the SSA’s news release this year. It’s on the rise both in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico right now.

The person who wrote the news release theorized that the rise of Eiden was being fueled by Wisconsin-based influencer Wyatt Eiden. But the name’s increasing popularity in Puerto Rico — plus the fact that 40% of Eiden’s U.S. usage occurred in four states with large Spanish-speaking populations (TX, CA, NY, and FL) — makes me think the name is being used primarily among U.S.-based Latin Americans (who are probably not watching Wyatt Eiden’s English-language interview/trivia videos on TikTok).

(And now I’m thinking of a recent comment by alex, who noticed that “names that have seen some use in Caribbean Latin America for 20+ years” are starting to pop up in the U.S. data, and wondered if Venezuelan immigration might have something to do with it…)

In 2022, the top names in Puerto Rico were Valentina and Liam.

Finally, what were the most popular baby names in all the other U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands) combined last year? Olivia and Elijah.

Sources: Popular Names by Territory – SSA, State and Territorial Data – National Center for Health Statistics – CDC

Image: Adapted from Flag of Puerto Rico (public domain)

Most popular baby girl names (letter by letter) in the U.S. in 2023

First letter usage for baby girl names in the U.S. in 2023

Going letter by letter, what were last year’s most popular baby girl names?

Before we get to the lists, a few quick facts:

  • The most common first letter for girl names in 2023 was A (used 16.48% of the time), followed by E (9.49%) and M (9.17%).
  • The least common first letter for girl names in 2023 was U (used 0.04% of the time), followed by Q (0.24%) and X (0.32%).
  • The first letter that increased the most in usage for girl names (from 2022 to 2023) was D.
  • The first letter that decreased the most in usage for girl names (from 2022 to 2023) was A.

Top girl names starting with A:

  1. Amelia, 12,311 baby girls
  2. Ava, 9,682
  3. Aurora, 6,054
  4. Aria, 5,996
  5. Avery, 5,859
  6. Abigail, 5,661
  7. Addison, 3,520
  8. Alice, 3,336
  9. Adeline, 3,074
  10. Audrey, 3,032

Top girl names starting with B:

  1. Brooklyn, 2,850 baby girls
  2. Bella, 2,540
  3. Brielle, 2,064
  4. Brianna, 1,875
  5. Blakely, 1,854
  6. Bailey, 1,678
  7. Blake, 1,346
  8. Blair, 1,263
  9. Brynlee, 1,210
  10. Brooke, 1,032

Top girl names starting with C:

  1. Charlotte, 12,596 baby girls
  2. Camila, 7,565
  3. Chloe, 5,960
  4. Claire, 3,195
  5. Caroline, 2,859
  6. Cora, 2,738
  7. Clara, 2,648
  8. Charlie, 2,235
  9. Cecilia, 2,050
  10. Catalina, 1,928

Top girl names starting with D:

  1. Delilah, 4,031 baby girls
  2. Daisy, 2,412
  3. Diana, 1,307
  4. Delaney, 1,283
  5. Daphne, 1,257
  6. Daniela, 1,230
  7. Dahlia, 1,219
  8. Dakota, 1,183
  9. Danna, 1,052
  10. Dream, 920

Top girl names starting with E:

  1. Emma, 13,527 baby girls
  2. Evelyn, 9,082
  3. Eleanor, 6,739
  4. Elizabeth, 6,566
  5. Emily, 6,154
  6. Ellie, 5,951
  7. Ella, 5,643
  8. Eliana, 5,329
  9. Emilia, 4,670
  10. Elena, 4,261

Top girl names starting with F:

  1. Freya, 2,061 baby girls
  2. Faith, 1,256
  3. Finley, 1,106
  4. Fatima, 893
  5. Francesca, 820
  6. Fiona, 764
  7. Frances, 755
  8. Felicity, 676
  9. Fernanda, 653
  10. Faye, 610

Top girl names starting with G:

  1. Gianna, 6,129 baby girls
  2. Grace, 4,886
  3. Genesis, 3,651
  4. Gabriella, 2,782
  5. Georgia, 2,157
  6. Genevieve, 1,734
  7. Gemma, 1,649
  8. Gracie, 1,237
  9. Gia, 1,155
  10. Gabriela, 1,041

Top girl names starting with H:

  1. Harper, 7,769 baby girls
  2. Hazel, 6,154
  3. Hannah, 4,102
  4. Hailey, 2,776
  5. Hadley, 2,304
  6. Hallie, 1,553
  7. Haven, 1,353
  8. Harmony, 1,297
  9. Harlow, 1,266
  10. Hope, 1,011

Top girl names starting with I:

  1. Isabella, 10,808 baby girls
  2. Isla, 5,357
  3. Ivy, 5,036
  4. Iris, 2,921
  5. Isabelle, 1,785
  6. Isabel, 1,743
  7. Itzel, 839
  8. Imani, 645
  9. Izabella, 630
  10. Ivory, 581

Top girl names starting with J:

  1. Josephine, 3,347 baby girls
  2. Jade, 2,908
  3. Josie, 2,504
  4. Juniper, 2,382
  5. Julia, 2,290
  6. Juliette, 1,785
  7. June, 1,694
  8. Jasmine, 1,585
  9. Journee, 1,423
  10. Juliana, 1,240

Top girl names starting with K:

  1. Kinsley, 3,188 baby girls
  2. Kennedy, 3,069
  3. Kehlani, 1,854
  4. Katherine, 1,697
  5. Kaylee, 1,641
  6. Kaia, 1,608
  7. Kylie, 1,439
  8. Khloe, 1,381
  9. Kimberly, 1,329
  10. Kailani, 1,315

Top girl names starting with L:

  1. Luna, 7,811 baby girls
  2. Lily, 6,146
  3. Layla, 5,678
  4. Lucy, 4,858
  5. Leah, 3,953
  6. Lainey, 3,928
  7. Lillian, 3,927
  8. Leilani, 3,543
  9. Liliana, 2,787
  10. Lydia, 2,716

Top girl names starting with M:

  1. Mia, 11,359 baby girls
  2. Mila, 5,895
  3. Madison, 5,160
  4. Maya, 4,067
  5. Madelyn, 3,632
  6. Maeve, 3,046
  7. Maria, 2,893
  8. Madeline, 2,726
  9. Millie, 2,559
  10. Melody, 2,557

Top girl names starting with N:

  1. Nora, 5,994 baby girls
  2. Nova, 5,248
  3. Naomi, 4,456
  4. Natalie, 3,418
  5. Natalia, 2,717
  6. Nevaeh, 2,326
  7. Norah, 1,479
  8. Noelle, 1,451
  9. Nyla, 1,236
  10. Noa, 1,041

Top girl names starting with O:

  1. Olivia, 15,270 baby girls
  2. Oakley, 1,874
  3. Oaklynn, 1,815
  4. Olive, 1,640
  5. Ophelia, 1,166
  6. Octavia, 1,123
  7. Oaklee, 685
  8. Opal, 624
  9. Oakleigh, 596
  10. Oaklyn, 514

Top girl names starting with P:

  1. Penelope, 6,041 baby girls
  2. Paisley, 3,727
  3. Parker, 2,293
  4. Piper, 2,066
  5. Peyton, 1,953
  6. Phoebe, 1,580
  7. Presley, 1,517
  8. Palmer, 1,129
  9. Poppy, 1,072
  10. Payton, 990

Top girl names starting with Q:

  1. Quinn, 2,846 baby girls
  2. Quincy, 263
  3. Queen, 128
  4. Quetzaly, 72
  5. Quinley, 50
  6. Quetzalli, 44
  7. Qamar, 40
  8. Quetzali, 37
  9. Quinnley, 28
  10. Quincey, 27

Top girl names starting with R:

  1. Riley, 4,617 baby girls
  2. Ruby, 3,333
  3. Raelynn, 2,406
  4. Rylee, 2,328
  5. Rose, 2,237
  6. Remi, 2,170
  7. Reagan, 1,721
  8. Reese, 1,663
  9. Rosalie, 1,640
  10. Ruth, 1,594

Top girl names starting with S:

  1. Sophia, 11,944 baby girls
  2. Sofia, 7,641
  3. Scarlett, 6,288
  4. Stella, 4,357
  5. Sadie, 3,586
  6. Sophie, 3,578
  7. Sarah, 2,749
  8. Savannah, 2,739
  9. Serenity, 2,548
  10. Skylar, 2,522

Top girl names starting with T:

  1. Tatum, 1,314 baby girls
  2. Taylor, 1,185
  3. Talia, 1,181
  4. Teagan, 996
  5. Thea, 970
  6. Tessa, 960
  7. Trinity, 866
  8. Thalia, 520
  9. Tiana, 488
  10. Taytum, 430

Top girl names starting with U:

  1. Unique, 103 baby girls
  2. Ulani, 80
  3. Uma, 72
  4. Una, 48
  5. Unity, 46
  6. Unknown, 41
  7. Ursula, 39
  8. Uriyah, 22
  9. Uriah, 21
  10. Urvi, 19

Top girl names starting with V:

  1. Violet, 6,342 baby girls
  2. Victoria, 4,434
  3. Valentina, 4,075
  4. Vivian, 2,801
  5. Valerie, 1,944
  6. Valeria, 1,860
  7. Vera, 1,328
  8. Vivienne, 1,283
  9. Vanessa, 1,010
  10. Viviana, 844

Top girl names starting with W:

  1. Willow, 4,727 baby girls
  2. Wrenley, 1,654
  3. Wren, 1,537
  4. Winter, 826
  5. Wynter, 801
  6. Willa, 717
  7. Wrenlee, 512
  8. Winnie, 485
  9. Whitley, 383
  10. Waverly, 305 (tie)
  11. Winona, 305 (tie)

Top girl names starting with X:

  1. Ximena, 1,809 baby girls
  2. Xiomara, 761
  3. Xyla, 275
  4. Xena, 233
  5. Xochitl, 214
  6. Xolani, 176
  7. Xitlali, 135
  8. Xylah, 96
  9. Xenia, 75
  10. Xareni, 69

Top girl names starting with Y:

  1. Yaretzi, 547 baby girls
  2. Yara, 485
  3. Yareli, 388
  4. Yasmin, 309
  5. Yamileth, 292
  6. Yusra, 201
  7. Yuna, 198
  8. Yaritza, 183
  9. Yaneli, 162
  10. Yasmine, 158

Top girl names starting with Z:

  1. Zoe, 5,160 baby girls
  2. Zoey, 4,040
  3. Zuri, 1,471
  4. Zara, 1,282
  5. Zariah, 740
  6. Zahra, 543
  7. Zariyah, 457
  8. Zelda, 401
  9. Zaniyah, 382
  10. Zaria, 371

Source: SSA