How popular is the baby name Leonardo 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 Leonardo.

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Popularity of the baby name Leonardo


Posts that mention the name Leonardo

Popular baby names in Switzerland, 2015

Flag of Switzerland
Flag of Switzerland

According to data from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the country’s most popular baby names last year were Mia and Noah.

Here are Switzerland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2015:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Mia
2. Emma
3. Lara
4. Lena
5. Sofia
6. Mila
7. Anna
8. Elena
9. Laura
10. Lina		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Luca
4. Gabriel
5. Leon
6. David
7. Matteo
8. Elias
9. Louis
10. Levin

In 2014, the top names were Emma and Noah.

And here are the top names within each of the main language groups:

Language GroupGirl NamesBoy Names
German speakers
(64% of Switzerland)		1. Mia
2. Emma
3. Lena		1. Leon
2. Noah
3. Luca
French speakers
(23%)		1. Emma
2. Alice
3. Eva		1. Gabriel
2. Liam
3. Noah
Italian speakers
(8%)		1. Sofia
2. Emma
3. Noemi		1. Leonardo
2. Alessandro
3. Liam
Romansh speakers
(less than 1%)		1. Alessia1. Laurin

Sources: Vornamen der Neugeborenen – Bundesamt für Statistik, Most popular Swiss baby names in 2015 (via Clare’s Name News)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Switzerland (public domain)

Popular baby names in Northern Ireland (UK), 2015

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

According to data from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), the most popular baby names in Northern Ireland in 2015 were Emily and James.

Here are the country’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2015:

Baby Girl NamesBaby Boy Names
1. Emily, 233 baby girls
2. Ella, 197
3. Grace, 192
4. Sophie, 179
5. Olivia, 153
6. Anna, 152
7. Amelia, 149
8. Aoife, 147
9. Lucy, 146
10. Ava, 141		1. James, 300 baby boys
2. Jack, 261
3. Noah, 225
4. Charlie, 213
5. Daniel, 188
6. Oliver, 186
7. Matthew, 168
8. Harry, 166
9. Thomas, 157
10. Jake, 141

In the girls’ top ten, Aoife and Ava replaced Sophia and Eva.

On the boys’ side, Matthew and Jake replaced Ethan and Jacob.

And here are some names from the other end of the list:

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Abernathy, Aiza, Albany, Billie-Jean, Binky, Button, Cami-Li, Cashleen, Chaitra, Cherithabel, Cyrah-Steph, Eluanny, Everleigh, Felmora, Iga, Izide, Kincso, Margaressa, Merve, Ryve, Saiorse-Miley-Mochara, Texas, Urte, YophiAcheron, Anugy, Bobeh, Carlow, Clepson, Csanad, Dermy, Dirly, Florin-Leonardo, Idrissa, Johnver, Karabo, Kenzen, Kygo, Lavezzi, Lincoln-Kidd, Lingaa, Majky, Niamkey, Noveldino, Oregon, Sorley-Logan, Ugnius, Zbyszko

Each of the above was given to fewer than three babies (so, used just once or twice) in Northern Ireland last year.

The top names in 2014 were Emily and Jack.

Source: Baby Names 2015 – NISRA

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Where did the baby name Donatello come from in 1990?

The character Donatello from the animated TV show "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (1987-1996).
Donatello from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles“

The Italian name Donatello debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1990:

  • 1992: unlisted
  • 1991: 11 boys named Donatello
  • 1990: 12 boys named Donatello [debut]
  • 1989: unlisted
  • 1988: unlisted

If you were a TV-watching kid during those years, you already know what inspired this one: the brainy, purple-masked, bo staff-wielding turtle Donatello from the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996).

Turtle-mania peaked during the late ’80s and early ’90s, and if you look at the three other Ninja Turtle names — Leonardo, Michaelangelo,* and Raphael — you’ll see that each of them saw higher usage during this period. (All four turtles were named after Renaissance artists.)

The characters Donatello, Michaelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael from the animated TV show "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" (1987-1996).
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The name Donatello is a diminutive of Donato, which comes from the Latin name Donatus, meaning “given.”

And now, the important question of all: who’s your favorite Ninja Turtle?

Sources: SSA, Donato – Behind the Name

*These days, Michaelangelo’s name is spelled more traditionally (“Michelangelo”) within the TMNT franchise.

Popular baby names in Switzerland, 2014

Flag of Switzerland
Flag of Switzerland

According to data from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the country’s most popular baby names overall in 2014 were Emma and Noah.

But the #1 names within each language group don’t quite match up with these overall #1 names, so here are Switzerland’s top baby names of 2014 broken down by language group:

French

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Emma (163 baby girls)
2. Eva (98)
3. Léa (96)
4. Camille (85)
5. Zoé (84)
6. Alice (83)
7. Chloé (82)
8. Alicia (74)		1. Gabriel (153 baby boys)
2. Liam (128)
3. Lucas (113)
4. Ethan (107)
5. Nathan (104)
6. Noah (102)
7. Louis (97)
8. Luca (94)

Ethan jumped from 12th to 4th, and Camille continues to rise (8th to 4th).

German

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Mia (312 baby girls)
2. Lara (294)
3. Emma (293)
4. Laura (277)
5. Anna (271)
6. Sara (245)
7. Lea (244)
8. Leonie (234)		1. Noah (338 baby boys)
2. Leon (313)
3. Luca (288)
4. Levin (280)
5. David (265)
6. Elias (259) – tie
6. Julian (259) – tie
8. Tim (246)

Elias jumped from 14th to 6th, and Anna from 12th to 5th.

Italian

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Giulia (34 baby girls)
2. Sofia (33)
3. Emma (28)
4. Alice (26)
5. Emily (24) – tie
5. Mia (24) – tie
7. Aurora (23) – tie
7. Noemi (23) – tie		1. Leonardo (40 baby boys)
1. Gabriel (37)
3. Liam (31)
4. Alessandro (24)
5. Lorenzo (23)
6. Enea (20)
7. Matteo (19) – tie
7. Noah (19) – tie

Enea jumped from 19th to 6th, and Aurora from 12th to 7th.

Romansh

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Luana
2. Léonie		1. Andrin
2. Nino

According to a Behind the Name contributor, Andrin is a “Romansh form of Heinrich (Henry), originally from the Engadine valley in southeast Switzerland.”

Finally, here are Switzerland’s top baby names for 2013, if you’d like to compare.

Sources: The Swiss name that’s popular across all languages – 2014 baby names, Swiss Statistics – The most popular first names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Switzerland (public domain)