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 Italy, 2020

Flag of Italy
Flag of Italy

According to Italy’s ISTAT (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica), the most popular baby names in the country in 2020 were Sofia and Leonardo.

Here are Italy’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Sofia, 5,604 baby girls (2.87%)
  2. Giulia, 5,012
  3. Aurora, 4,987
  4. Ginevra, 3,657
  5. Alice, 3,333
  6. Beatrice, 3,162
  7. Emma, 3,069
  8. Giorgia, 2,701
  9. Vittoria, 2,677
  10. Matilde, 2,545

Boy Names

  1. Leonardo, 8,604 baby boys (4.15%)
  2. Francesco, 5,422
  3. Alessandro, 5,009
  4. Lorenzo, 4,841
  5. Mattia, 4,711
  6. Tommaso, 4,308
  7. Gabriele, 4,237
  8. Andrea, 4,041
  9. Riccardo, 4,025
  10. Edoardo, 3,785

In the girls’ top 10, Matilde replaced Greta (now in 16th place).

The boys’ top 10 includes the same names, but in a slightly different order.

Notably, Leonardo held an even more commanding lead in 2020 (4.15%) than in 2019 (3.64%). More than 1 in 25 baby boys were named Leonardo last year.

Also notable is the rise of Azzurra during the early 21st century. I didn’t realize until writing about a Scots-Italian baby named Azzurra last year that this name could be a reference to Italy’s national soccer team, known as gli Azzurri (“the Blues”) because the players wear Savoy azure. The baby name Azzurra entered Italy’s top 50 in 2017 and was ranked 27th for girls last year.

Graph of the popularity of the baby name Azzurra in Italy from 1999 to 2020.
Popularity of Azzurra in Italy, 1999-2020
  • 2020: 1,334 Italian baby girls named Azzurra (ranked 27th)
  • 2019: 1,059 Italian baby girls named Azzurra (ranked 38th)
  • 2018: 1,041 Italian baby girls named Azzurra (ranked 40th)
  • 2017: 926 Italian baby girls named Azzurra (ranked 47th)
  • 2016: 788 Italian baby girls named Azzurra
  • 2015: 848 Italian baby girls named Azzurra
  • 2014: 628 Italian baby girls named Azzurra
  • 2013: 652 Italian baby girls named Azzurra
  • 2012: 540 Italian baby girls named Azzurra
  • 2011: 459 Italian baby girls named Azzurra

How high do you think it could climb?

In 2019, the top two names in Italy were also Sofia and Leonardo.

Sources: How many babies are named…? – Istat, Italy national football team – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Italy (public domain). Graph from Istat.

Where did the baby name Ellesse come from in 1986?

Ellesse advertisement featuring U.S. tennis player Chris Evert (1988)
Ellesse advertisement

The name Ellesse started popping up in the U.S. baby name data in the mid-1980s:

  • 1988: 12 baby girls named Ellesse
    • 6 born in California
  • 1987: 12 baby girls named Ellesse
    • 8 born in California
  • 1986: 10 baby girls named Ellesse [debut]
  • 1985: unlisted
  • 1984: unlisted

Where did it come from?

The Italian sportswear brand Ellesse (pronounced el-ES), the name of which was derived from the initials of the founder, Leonardo Servadio (“L. S.”).

The brand grew popular during the 1970s and 1980s thanks to close associations with the sports of skiing and tennis. Tennis stars Guillermo Vilas, Chris Evert, and Boris Becker were all sponsored by Ellesse. In fact, Becker was wearing Ellesse outfits when he won Wimbledon in both 1985 and 1986.

Advertisements and tennis sponsorships may have been enough to boost “Ellesse” into the baby name data in 1986, but two more things that might have helped as well include:

  • Ellesse’s sponsorship of the New York City Marathon from 1984 to 1986, and/or
  • Ellesse’s partnership with Philadelphia 76ers player Maurice “Mo” Cheeks — at that time, a recent NBA champion and recent All-Star — to create Maurice Cheeks basketball shoes in 1985.

All that said…I can’t account for the particularly high usage of Ellesse in California. Any ideas? (Is there a telenovela I’m missing here?)

What do you think of “Ellesse” as a baby name?

P.S. Brittania and Generra are two other sportswear brands that became baby names…

Sources:

Image: Detail of an advertisement for Ellesse Sunmirrors (1988)

Popular baby names in Switzerland, 2020

Flag of Switzerland
Flag of Switzerland

According to data from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the most popular baby names in Switzerland in 2020 were Mia and Noah.

Here are the country’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Mia, 461 baby girls
  2. Emma, 407
  3. Mila, 350
  4. Emilia, 318
  5. Lina, 312 (2-way tie)
  6. Sofia, 312 (2-way tie)
  7. Elena, 266 (2-way tie)
  8. Lea, 266 (2-way tie)
  9. Alina, 256
  10. Laura, 248

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 507 baby boys
  2. Liam, 372
  3. Matteo, 359
  4. Leon, 332 (2-way tie)
  5. Luca, 332 (2-way tie)
  6. Elias, 315
  7. Gabriel, 310
  8. Ben, 267
  9. Louis, 256
  10. Aaron, 251

In the boys’ top 10, Ben and Aaron replaced Samuel and David.

In the girls’ top 10, Elena, Lea, Alina and Laura replaced Lara, Anna, Lia and Lena.

Here are the top baby names within each of Switzerland’s main language groups:

Top 3 Girl NamesTop 3 Boy Names
German-speakers (63%)Mia, Emilia, LinaNoah, Leon, Matteo
French-speakers (23%)Emma, Mia, MilaGabriel, Liam, Noah
Italian-speakers (8%)Sofia, Alice/Aurora (tie), EmmaLeonardo, Alessandro, Enea/Liam (tie)
Romansh-speakers (less than 1%)Daria/Laura/Lea/Lorena/Yuna (5-way tie for #1)Levin/Nic (tie), Aurelio/Flurin/Laurin/Lino/Mattia/Nevio (6-way tie for #2)

In 2019, the top names in the country overall were Mia and Liam.

Sources: Palmarès des prénoms des nouveau-nés et de la population en 2020, Vornamen der Neugeborenen

Image: Adapted from Flag of Switzerland (public domain)

Popular baby names in Italy, 2019

Flag of Italy
Flag of Italy

According to Italy’s ISTAT (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica), the most popular baby names in the country in 2019 were (again) Sofia and Leonardo.

Here are Italy’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:

Girl Names

  1. Sofia, 5,851 baby girls (2.87%)
  2. Aurora, 5,467
  3. Giulia, 5,356
  4. Ginevra, 3,721
  5. Alice, 3,658
  6. Emma, 3,245
  7. Giorgia, 3,056
  8. Beatrice, 3,046
  9. Greta, 2,725
  10. Vittoria, 2,713

Boy Names

  1. Leonardo, 7,786 baby boys (3.64%)
  2. Francesco, 5,946
  3. Lorenzo, 5,264
  4. Alessandro, 5,229
  5. Andrea, 4,715
  6. Mattia, 4,714
  7. Gabriele, 4,412
  8. Tommaso, 4,269
  9. Riccardo, 4,176
  10. Edoardo, 3,651

In the girls’ top 10, Vittoria replaced Anna (now ranked 11th).

(One girl name with top-10 potential is the intriguing Ludovica, which — unlike cousins Luisa, Louisa, and Louise — has seen very little usage in the United States. Ludovica was Italy’s 30th most popular girl name — give or take a few spots — from 2008 to 2015, but in the last few years it has reached 15th twice.)

The boys’ top 10 includes the same 10 names, but in a slightly different order.

Source: How Many Babies Are Named…?

Image: Adapted from Flag of Italy (public domain)