Leonardo Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, Boy Names Like Leonardo

Leonardo Name Origin: Italian
Pronunciation: lee-ah-nar-doh, lee-oh-nar-doh
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Leonardo Name Meaning

The Italian form of Leonard, Leonardo is bursting with elegance and romance, his sound reminiscent of art galleries, sprawling vineyards, and leisurely gondola rides. He’s packing some serious style points as well, transporting those around him straight to Milan Fashion Week.

With his in-demand -o ending and rich sound, it’s no surprise that he’s catching on in the States. He has a high-class air without a hint of pretentious, wearing well on a little boy and a man alike. While he’s no doubt grand, he can be dressed down as needed to feel more youthful with nicknames like Lee, Leo, and the spunky Nardo.

Leonardo is, of course, a classic, having tremendous ties to the halls of history with associations like Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo Bruni, and Leonardo Fibonacci. He also has more modern associations like Leonardo DiCaprio to give him some added cool points and wearability. Depending who you ask, he also appears as the coolest of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If you ask us, that’s a winning connection!

In a sea of trendy names, Leonardo sticks out as a handsome choice with mighty legs to stand on. He doesn’t need a unique spelling to stand apart. He’s got more than enough style to go around!

Leonardo Name Popularity

How popular is the name Leonardo? Here’s everything we know.

Year	Rank	# Births	% Births
1910	—	0	0%
1911	—	5	0.0013%
1912	—	6	0.0012%
1913	—	7	0.0012%
1914	—	17	0.0024%
1915	—	8	0.0009%
1916	—	13	0.0013%
1917	—	24	0.0024%
1918	—	26	0.0024%
1919	—	22	0.0021%
1920	—	31	0.0028%
1921	—	26	0.0023%
1922	—	30	0.0027%
1923	—	32	0.0029%
1924	—	36	0.0031%
1925	—	23	0.002%
1926	—	43	0.0039%
1927	—	36	0.0033%
1928	—	38	0.0036%
1929	—	48	0.0046%
1930	—	35	0.0034%
1931	—	22	0.0022%
1932	—	33	0.0033%
1933	—	28	0.003%
1934	—	38	0.0039%
1935	—	44	0.0045%
1936	—	15	0.0016%
1937	—	21	0.0021%
1938	—	23	0.0022%
1939	—	28	0.0028%
1940	—	23	0.0022%
1941	—	29	0.0026%
1942	—	25	0.002%
1943	—	34	0.0026%
1944	—	47	0.0038%
1945	—	45	0.0037%
1946	—	43	0.0029%
1947	—	38	0.0023%
1948	—	42	0.0026%
1949	—	44	0.0027%
1950	—	50	0.0031%
1951	—	48	0.0028%
1952	—	66	0.0038%
1953	—	59	0.0033%
1954	—	64	0.0035%
1955	—	51	0.0028%
1956	—	60	0.0032%
1957	—	58	0.003%
1958	—	60	0.0032%
1959	—	81	0.0043%
1960	—	57	0.003%
1961	—	116	0.0061%
1962	—	107	0.0058%
1963	—	93	0.0052%
1964	—	100	0.0057%
1965	—	84	0.0051%
1966	—	117	0.0075%
1967	—	115	0.0076%
1968	—	124	0.0083%
1969	—	127	0.0082%
1970	—	155	0.0097%
1971	—	173	0.0115%
1972	—	195	0.0143%
1973	—	177	0.0137%
1974	—	224	0.0172%
1975	—	231	0.018%
1976	—	201	0.0156%
1977	—	220	0.0163%
1978	—	197	0.0147%
1979	—	244	0.0173%
1980	—	314	0.0215%
1981	—	264	0.018%
1982	—	272	0.0182%
1983	—	228	0.0155%
1984	—	258	0.0173%
1985	—	256	0.0169%
1986	—	277	0.0184%
1987	—	274	0.018%
1988	—	321	0.0206%
1989	—	342	0.0212%
1990	—	510	0.0308%
1991	—	551	0.0338%
1992	—	561	0.0351%
1993	—	591	0.0379%
1994	—	583	0.038%
1995	—	528	0.035%
1996	—	548	0.0366%
1997	—	671	0.0454%
1998	—	1,129	0.0754%
1999	—	1,201	0.0802%
2000	—	1,296	0.0848%
2001	—	1,424	0.0945%
2002	—	1,433	0.0956%
2003	—	1,676	0.1102%
2004	—	1,942	0.1274%
2005	—	2,123	0.1389%
2006	—	2,168	0.1385%
2007	—	2,499	0.1584%
2008	—	2,323	0.1503%
2009	—	2,350	0.1572%
2010	—	2,603	0.1806%
2011	—	2,627	0.1844%
2012	—	2,659	0.1866%
2013	—	2,892	0.2031%
2014	—	3,422	0.2349%
2015	—	3,802	0.2613%
2016	—	4,307	0.2987%
2017	—	4,102	0.2939%
2018	—	4,185	0.3046%
2019	—	4,391	0.3244%
2020	—	4,021	0.3159%
2021	—	4,069	0.3329%
2022	—	4,328	0.3281%
2023	—	4,007	0.3096%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Leonardo

If you like Leonardo, you’ll love these other names like Leonardo.

What names are diminutives of Leonardo?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Leonardo sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Leonardo, but shorter.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Ardo	A variant form of Arden.
Lenn	Lion strength	German
Lennie	Lion strength	German
Lenno	Man	Native American
Lenny	Short form of Leonard	English
Leo	Lion	Latin
Leon	Lion	Greek
Nard	Strong bear	Dutch
Nardo	Strong, hardy	Italian

What names are variants of Leonardo?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Leonardo.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Lenard	Lion strength	German
Lennard	Lion strength	German
Leonard	Lion strength	German
Leonerd	Lion strength	German
Leonhard	Lion strength	German

What names sound like Leonardo?

If you like how Leonardo sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Leonardo.

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender

Abelardo	Noble strength	German
Baiardo	Auburn-haired	French
Bajardo	Auburn-haired	French
Barnardo	Strong, brave bear	German
Bernardo	Strong, brave bear	German
Edgardo	Wealthy spear	English
Eduardo	Wealthy guard	Spanish
Gerardo	Spear brave	English
Leland	Plowed land	English
Leonidas	Lion strength	German
Leopold	Brave people	German
Renardo	Strong decision; fox	German
Reynardo	Strong decision; fox	German
Ricardo	Brave ruler	Spanish

What names are similar to Leonardo?

Find a name that’s like Leonardo, but just a little bit different.

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender
Alejandro	Defender of man	Spanish

Antonio	Unknown meaning	Italian
Christopher	Bearing Christ	English
Damian	To tame	Greek
Emiliano	Rival	Italian
Emmanuel	God is with us	Hebrew
Giovanni	God is gracious	Italian
Maximus	Greatest	Latin
Santiago	Saint James	Spanish
Sebastian	Venerable or honorable	Greek

Lists With Leonardo

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Leonardo.

Siblings of Leonardo

Mamas with kids named Leonardo also have kids with these names.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Ashton	Ash tree town	English
Bethany	House of figs	Hebrew
Melanie	Black	Greek
Matthew	Gift of God	Hebrew

Share Your Thoughts

17 Comments

Viktoria Apr 30 at 5:14 am

My son’s name is Leonardo. I love this name. I live in Estonia and it’s not very common name here. I don’t know anyone (except my son) with that name here. I remember one time older lady said to me (when I called my son in public transport and she heard me) that it’s so beautiful name, she never heard that name before only in Italian movies. I love the meaning in this name too – brave lion. My other favorite name is Raphael. I hope I have another son so I can name him Raphael.

Reply
Leonardo Nov 10 at 2:34 pm

I really wanted to name our baby boy Ricardo jr after dad but dad didn’t like the idea. My husband is a Leo and I loved the idea of having baby’s name have a special connection to dad. Also, my husband lost his grandfather about a month before we found out we were pregnant. His name was Laureano.

Reply
Jovonne Aug 3 at 10:07 am

It’s a name for a boy with so much potential to become whatever he dreams of being on this earth 🙂

Reply
Ruby Nov 29 at 2:50 am

I loved the teenage ninja turtles and of course Leo he was the one who stood out. Funny thing I named my kid after the turtle it was my favorite cartoon as a child.

Reply
Crystal+Hammons Jun 1 at 6:01 am

My husband and I really like the name but also the meaning, which is strong lion.

Reply
Henrietta May 1 at 10:57 am

My husband is a big fan of Resident Evil especially Leon S. Kennedy character. So he suggested to name him Leonardo but call him Leon instead. I like it.

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Diana Sep 10 at 9:28 pm

We had a hard time finding the right name and Leonardo just stood out! We like how we can call him Leo and his horoscope is a Leo so it seemed to ge meant to be.

Reply
Danielle Sullo Apr 8 at 9:27 am

Great thinker and creative mind of all time. Italian Renaissance artist and scientist, history-maker

Reply
Anny Nov 14 at 6:42 pm

Leonardo: we choose this name with our own meaning. Leon in Spanish, Lion in English, is known as the king of the jungle , the jungle will be the thoughts, the mind, so if you know your mind, you know what you think, you are the king of your own mind and as a result you have a clear mind, now if you have a clear mind you have a pure heart. So for us Leonardo means: clear mind pure heart, (mente clara corazon puro). If you do what you do from your mind clear and you do what you do from your pure heart, what you think, what you say, what you do, comes from who you truly are, the human being who you truly are.

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Salina Oct 15 at 11:07 am

His dad picked the name becouse of his relative. I love everything about his name

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Cristiane Jul 16 at 5:10 pm

Strong name for a boy! 🙂

Reply
Jazmin May 26 at 11:37 am

To be honest, I was emotional and pregnant. I saw a video on tik tok of someone feeding big cats. The one I liked was a lion named Leo. What solidified it was that my favorite sibling is a Leo. So I just added -nardo for a bit of weight to the name.

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Stephanie Oct 15 at 3:06 pm

My fiance was looking for an Italian name to stay true to his roots. For me, Leo was an old English name used multiple times in every older generation of my family, so it was an easy decision for us.
We also like being able to call him Leon as he approaches school age if Leo seems too old fashioned (my fiance is also a gamer nerd so the reference to Resident Evil might play well for others!)

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Leonardo Jul 13 at 1:45 pm

My baby is named after his father. When I hear the name Leonardo it gives me a feeling of elegance, handsome strong sense

Reply
Emily Mar 26 at 3:14 pm

My husband and I don’t love the idea of our son sharing a name with 10 of his friends his age but don’t want something that nobody will ever be able to spell or pronounce, and this was one of the few named we both liked.

Reply
Laura Feb 20 at 1:59 am

Love name have different pronunciation and my daughter choose it

Reply
Karen Sep 14 at 6:24 pm

We picked the name Leonardo with the intention of using the shortened version Leo. I was always a huge fan of Leonardo Di Caprio and I loved that the name isn’t too common and is of European origin which my husband and I both are as well.

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