How popular is the baby name Leonard 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 Leonard.

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Popularity of the baby name Leonard


Posts that mention the name Leonard

Popular baby names in Quebec (Canada), 2024

Flag of Quebec
Flag of Quebec

Last year, the Canadian province of Quebec welcomed about 77,400 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Noah.

Here are Quebec’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Emma, 461 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 452
  3. Florence, 449
  4. Charlotte, 447
  5. Alice, 407
  6. Charlie, 364
  7. Beatrice, 334
  8. Clara, 331
  9. Sofia, 327
  10. Livia, 298
  11. Lea, 285
  12. Romy, 281
  13. Mila, 280
  14. Juliette, 276
  15. Mia, 254
  16. Eva, 235
  17. Zoe, 234
  18. Rose, 232
  19. Victoria, 213
  20. Leonie, 212
  21. Billie, 206
  22. Julia, 205
  23. Rosalie, 198
  24. Chloe, 185
  25. Jeanne, 178
  26. Elena, 176 (tie)
  27. Flavie, 176 (tie)
  28. Jade, 173
  29. Elizabeth, 171
  30. Margot, 159
  31. Amelia, 158
  32. Adele, 152
  33. Eleonore, 149
  34. Ophelie, 144
  35. Raphaelle, 143
  36. Sophia, 140
  37. Clemence, 138
  38. Maeva, 135
  39. Camille, 130
  40. Lily, 129
  41. Ellie, 127
  42. Lena, 123
  43. Flora, 121
  44. Estelle, 109
  45. Aurelie, 107
  46. Eloise, 105 (tie)
  47. Marguerite, 105 (tie)
  48. Sophie, 104
  49. Jasmine, 102
  50. Evelyne, 101 (tie)
  51. Nora, 101 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 572 baby boys
  2. Leo, 531
  3. Liam, 494 (tie)
  4. William, 494 (tie)
  5. Thomas, 448
  6. Louis, 445
  7. Arthur, 435
  8. Edouard, 426
  9. Emile, 389
  10. Theo, 387
  11. Jacob, 354
  12. Charles, 346
  13. Adam, 340 (tie)
  14. Jules, 340 (tie)
  15. Nathan, 338
  16. James, 329
  17. Raphael, 303
  18. Laurent, 282
  19. Lucas, 274
  20. Theodore, 273
  21. Arnaud, 268
  22. Felix, 264
  23. Logan, 261
  24. Victor, 254
  25. Henri, 252
  26. Benjamin, 244
  27. Eloi, 237
  28. Elliot, 234
  29. Jackson, 228
  30. Gabriel, 226
  31. Samuel, 209
  32. Nolan, 204
  33. Milan, 203
  34. Ethan, 192
  35. Matheo, 181
  36. Antoine, 180
  37. Jayden, 168
  38. Olivier, 163
  39. Alexis, 159
  40. Leonard, 152
  41. Matteo, 139
  42. Eli, 137
  43. Robin, 131
  44. Hubert, 127
  45. Axel, 126
  46. Leon, 125 (tie)
  47. Zack, 125 (tie)
  48. Caleb, 124
  49. Jake, 123 (tie)
  50. Maverick, 123 (tie)

In the girls’ top 10, Clara and Sofia replaced Lea and Juliette.

In the boys’ top 10, Emile and Theo replaced Jacob and Nathan.

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum?

Among those given to fewer than five babies, I spotted the place names Kenai and Sitka, the plant name Melilot (sweet clover), the French word Tantine (meaning “auntie”), and the Inuktitut versions of various Christian names:

  • Joanassie (based on John, Jonah, or Jonas)
  • Jusipi/Juusipi (based on Joseph)
  • Paulusie (based on Paul)
  • Silasie (based on Silas)
  • Tuumasi (based on Thomas)
  • Elisapee/Elisapi/Elisapie (based on Elizabeth)

I also noticed names from various indigenous languages, such as…

  • Aqiaruk, which means “stomach” in Inuktut.
  • Arnaq Talittuq, made up of the Inuktitut words arnaq, meaning “woman,” and talittuq, meaning “disappears, hides.”
  • Maikaniss, which means “wolf cub” in Innu. (The word maikan means “wolf.”)
  • Mispun, which means “it is snowing” in East Cree.
  • Missinak, which means “turtle” in Innu.
  • Nipinok, based on the Cree word nipinohk, meaning “last summer.” (The word nipin means “summer.”)
  • Piponik, based on the Cree word pipon, meaning both “winter” and “year.”
  • Putulik
  • Qumaluk
  • Tillikasak
  • Timangiak
  • Uashtessiu, part of the Innu term uashtessiu-pishimu, meaning “the month when the leaves become yellow” (i.e., October).
  • Uiviru
  • Ulluriaq, which means “star” in Inuktitut.
  • Weetalutuk

(I can’t give you the usual sampling of Quebec’s single-use names because, as of 2024, the province has decided to stop specifying which names were given to just one baby. The single-use names — along with the names that were given to two, three, and four babies — are now labeled “<5” in the data.)

Finally, here’s a link to Quebec’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Quebec (public domain)

North Carolina triplets with rhyming names: Dessie, Bessie, Essie

Triplets Dessie, Bessie and Essie Justice (plus a younger sibling)
Dessie, Bessie, and Essie Justice

During the early decades of the the 20th century, Thomas Edward “Tommy” Justice and Laura Effie Justice (née Searcy) of Henderson County, North Carolina, welcomed 14 children — including a set of triplets.

Here are the names of all 14 siblings:

  1. Curtis Edward (born in 1900)
  2. Sidney Thomas (b. 1902)
  3. Dessie M. (b. 1904)
  4. Bessie Martha (b. 1904)
  5. Essie Margaret (b. 1904)
  6. Lula Belle (b. 1906)
  7. unnamed son (b. 1908)
  8. William Leonard (b. 1909)
  9. James Arthur (b. 1911)
  10. Anna May (b. 1914)
  11. Fred (b. 1917)
  12. Mary Sue (b. 1919)
  13. Laura Lee (b. 1921)
  14. George Washington (b. 1924)

Dessie, Bessie, and Essie were born in the family’s log cabin on March 16, 1904.

As children, Dessie and Bessie looked a lot alike, but Essie stood out because she “was the runt,” according to Dessie.

Dessie also noted that all three of them were “bashful” as youngsters:

We were entered in baby shows and attracted a lot of attention since we were triplets, but we didn’t like it. We would run and hide under the bed when people came to take our pictures. They would have to drag us to the shows and feed us ice cream behind the curtain to keep us at the show.

Speaking of Dessie…I wasn’t able to track down her middle name. What do you think Dessie’s middle initial, “M.,” might have stood for?

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Spirit of Missions magazine (Sept. 1911)

What popularized the baby name Lanny in the 1930s?

Radio singer Lanny Ross (1906-1988)
Lanny Ross

The name Lanny had popped up several times in the U.S. baby name data before re-emerging in 1933 with two dozen baby boys:

  • 1937: 174 baby boys named Lanny [rank: 429th]
  • 1936: 133 baby boys named Lanny [rank: 493rd]
  • 1935: 123 baby boys named Lanny [rank: 520th]
  • 1934: 93 baby boys named Lanny [rank: 620th]
  • 1933: 24 baby boys named Lanny
  • 1932: unlisted
  • 1931: 8 baby boys named Lanny
  • 1930: unlisted
  • 1929: unlisted

Usage of the name continued to climb over the rest of the decade and into the next; Lanny reached its highest-ever ranking (299th) in 1942.

So, what spurred the rise of Lanny during the 1930s?

Radio singer Lanny Ross (born Lancelot Patrick Ross in Seattle in 1906).

Lanny Ross first sang over the airwaves as a member of the Yale Glee Club in 1928. Over the next few years, while attending law school at Columbia University, he gave solo performances on radio shows like Troubadour of the Moon.

When he completed his law degree in 1931, NBC offered him a radio show of his own, at a salary five times greater than that offered by a law firm that was also courting him.

He could be heard on several shows, in fact.

One of them, Maxwell House Show Boat, was a weekly, hour-long program notable for “combining a dramatic plot with music and comedy” and having a cast of more than fifty performers. Show Boat, which premiered in October of 1932, quickly became one of the top radio shows in the country — and Lanny Ross was its breakout star.

By the end of the first year, Ross was the sensation of Radio Row, propelled into front ranks by his boyish good looks (as radio fans could see on every heartthrob magazine) and his clear tenor voice.

In the summer of 1934, the readers of Radio Stars magazine voted for their favorite artists, and Lanny Ross placed second in the “male popular singer” category (after Bing Crosby).

During and after his time on Show Boat, Lanny Ross was featured on various other programs, including The Packard Hour, Your Hit Parade, and Camel Caravan. He could be heard regularly on the radio until the mid-1950s.

He also released dozens of recordings over the course of his career. For instance, here’s his rendition of the 1934 song “Stay As Sweet As You Are”:

Remarkably, several hundred of the boys named “Lanny” during the 1930s, 1940s, and early 1950s were given the middle name “Ross.” Some examples:

What are your thoughts on the name Lanny? Do you like it as a standalone name, or do you prefer it as a nickname (for names like Landon, Lance, Orlando, and Leonard)?

P.S. In the late 1940s, Lanny Ross hosted a television program called The Swift Show. It aired weekly on NBC — just like Girl About Town, hosted by Kyle MacDonnell.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Radio Stars magazine (Aug. 1934)

Popular baby names in Paris, 2023

Flag of France
Flag of France

We’ve already looked at the top names in France, so now let’s check out the top names in France’s capital city, Paris.

Last year, Paris’ most popular baby names were Louise and Gabriel.

Here are the city’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Louise, 190 baby girls
  2. Alma, 189
  3. Alice, 138
  4. Anna, 135
  5. Olivia, 134
  6. Jeanne, 129
  7. Gabrielle, 118
  8. Emma, 114
  9. Adèle, 112
  10. Iris, 111 (tie)
  11. Rose, 111 (tie)
  12. Léa, 108
  13. Chloé, 104
  14. Victoire, 99
  15. Jade, 97
  16. Lina, 94
  17. Victoria, 93
  18. Charlie, 91
  19. Lou, 90
  20. Joséphine, 89 (tie)
  21. Sofia, 89 (tie)
  22. Ava, 87 (4-way tie)
  23. Diane, 87 (4-way tie)
  24. Mia, 87 (4-way tie)
  25. Sarah, 87 (4-way tie)
  26. Zoé, 86
  27. Ella, 85
  28. Nour, 82
  29. Alix, 81
  30. Julia, 80
  31. Suzanne, 79
  32. Juliette, 78
  33. Maya, 76 (tie)
  34. Nina, 76 (tie)
  35. Alba, 74 (3-way tie)
  36. Charlotte, 74 (3-way tie)
  37. Eva, 74 (3-way tie)
  38. Agathe, 73 (tie)
  39. Romy, 73 (tie)
  40. Mariam, 72
  41. Fatoumata, 69
  42. Inaya, 68
  43. Aminata, 64
  44. Elena, 62
  45. Ambre, 61 (tie)
  46. Inès, 61 (tie)
  47. Apolline, 60
  48. Romane, 59
  49. Alya, 57 (3-way tie)
  50. Céleste, 57 (3-way tie)
  51. Giulia, 57 (3-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Gabriel, 321 baby boys
  2. Adam, 240
  3. Raphaël, 235
  4. Louis, 191
  5. Noah, 188
  6. Isaac, 181
  7. Mohamed, 175
  8. Arthur, 172
  9. Gaspard, 152
  10. Joseph, 147
  11. Léon, 137
  12. Lucas, 131
  13. Victor, 127
  14. Léo, 124
  15. Paul, 123
  16. Alexandre, 121 (tie)
  17. Ibrahim, 121 (tie)
  18. Aaron, 111
  19. Sacha, 108
  20. Andrea, 105 (tie)
  21. Ismaël, 105 (tie)
  22. Liam, 103
  23. Augustin, 92 (tie)
  24. Oscar, 92 (tie)
  25. Côme, 91
  26. Maël, 87
  27. Auguste, 86 (tie)
  28. Noé, 86 (tie)
  29. Jules, 84
  30. Antoine, 83
  31. Abel, 81 (tie)
  32. Timothée, 81 (tie)
  33. Hugo, 80
  34. Marceau, 78 (3-way tie)
  35. Marius, 78 (3-way tie)
  36. Théo, 78 (3-way tie)
  37. Charles, 77
  38. Simon, 76
  39. Eliott, 74
  40. Basile, 72
  41. Eden, 71
  42. Octave, 70 (tie)
  43. Zayn, 70 (tie)
  44. Léonard, 69 (tie)
  45. Nathan, 69 (tie)
  46. Georges, 67
  47. Mathis, 66
  48. Ethan, 65 (tie)
  49. Maxime, 65 (tie)
  50. Camille, 64

How interesting that Ambre, the second-most-popular girl name in France, just barely made the top 50 in Paris.

The girls’ top 100 included Raphaëlle (63rd), Olympe (76th), Brune (83rd), and Marie (99th).

The boys’ top 100 included Gustave (67th), Naël (78th), Malo (83rd), and Aurèle (96th).

Here’s a selection of names from lower down in the rankings, which includes all names given to at least five Parisian babies (of either one gender or the other) per year.

Girl namesBoy names
Castille (25 baby girls), Gisèle (19), Sibylle (17), Ninon (14), Ysé (12), Olympia (11), Alizée (6), Amicie (5), Domitille (5), Lital (5)Hippolyte (26 baby boys), Soan (26), Edouard (22), Zacharie (17), Mayeul (6), Armel (5), Doron (5), Manoé (5), Pacôme (5), Wandrille (5)

Wandrille is the French form of the Germanic name Wandregisel (which belonged to a 7th-century Catholic saint). The second element of Wandregisel is the same element upon which the name Gisèle is based.

Finally, here’s a link to Paris’ 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

P.S. Do you think the Paris Olympics will inspire more French parents to choose the girl names Olympe and Olympia in 2024?

Sources: Prénoms déclarés – Paris Data, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of France (public domain)