Leah Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, Girl Names Like Leah

Leah Name Origin: Hebrew
Pronunciation: lee-ah
See what 23 people think about Leah

Meaning
Share
Popularity
Alternatives
Lists
Comments

Leah Name Meaning

Derived from the Hebrew Le-ah, Leah is a name meaning “weary one.” She didn’t start picking up steam with parents until the early 2000s, rising from being barely heard to a common favorite. Like Abigail, she didn’t make regular appearances as a first name until the time of the Puritans.

Leah is a sweet choice for any daughter, her sweet sound and gentle temperament perfect for a little one. She fits in wonderfully with her rhyming sisters Mia and Gia as well as the soft Molly and Ellie. Her sound often appears at the end of other names like Amelia or Natalia.

Some parents would be delighted to learn she’s also biblical in origin. According to the Old Testament, Leah was the first wife of Jacob, bearing seven children. An important maternal character in the Bible, Leah has a womanly feel despite her sweet, childlike sound.

A little Leah is dainty and delicate, more at home in her best make believe dress than any pair of jeans. She isn’t one for running amok, choosing to play with her favorite dolls over going outside. At the same time, she has a thirst for knowledge, reading any book she can get her hands on.

Alternative spellings include Lea and Lia and a fresh variant is Leia.

Leah Name Popularity

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

Year	Rank	# Births	% Births
1910	—	136	0.0386%
1911	—	145	0.0389%
1912	—	259	0.0514%
1913	—	318	0.0561%
1914	—	421	0.0604%
1915	—	519	0.0571%
1916	—	479	0.0496%
1917	—	494	0.0494%
1918	—	557	0.0519%
1919	—	490	0.0468%
1920	—	483	0.0434%
1921	—	454	0.0396%
1922	—	452	0.0406%
1923	—	443	0.0396%
1924	—	467	0.0402%
1925	—	395	0.0349%
1926	—	404	0.0367%
1927	—	296	0.0267%
1928	—	352	0.0329%
1929	—	269	0.026%
1930	—	277	0.0265%
1931	—	268	0.0272%
1932	—	220	0.0223%
1933	—	299	0.0321%
1934	—	349	0.0361%
1935	—	317	0.0326%
1936	—	286	0.0297%
1937	—	364	0.0369%
1938	—	336	0.0328%
1939	—	329	0.0323%
1940	—	324	0.0305%
1941	—	292	0.0259%
1942	—	272	0.0215%
1943	—	232	0.0178%
1944	—	241	0.0194%
1945	—	213	0.0175%
1946	—	271	0.0184%
1947	—	344	0.0206%
1948	—	335	0.021%
1949	—	411	0.0255%
1950	—	404	0.0251%
1951	—	422	0.0249%
1952	—	454	0.026%
1953	—	548	0.031%
1954	—	513	0.0281%
1955	—	558	0.0303%
1956	—	641	0.0339%
1957	—	710	0.0369%
1958	—	617	0.0326%
1959	—	711	0.0374%
1960	—	737	0.0389%
1961	—	781	0.0414%
1962	—	956	0.0521%
1963	—	1,278	0.0712%
1964	—	1,407	0.0799%
1965	—	1,359	0.0831%
1966	—	1,366	0.0875%
1967	—	1,594	0.105%
1968	—	1,605	0.1069%
1969	—	1,479	0.096%
1970	—	1,664	0.1046%
1971	—	1,673	0.1113%
1972	—	1,581	0.1161%
1973	—	1,572	0.1213%
1974	—	1,831	0.1409%
1975	—	2,112	0.1644%
1976	—	2,264	0.1757%
1977	—	2,580	0.1914%
1978	—	2,712	0.2017%
1979	—	3,078	0.2183%
1980	—	3,634	0.2485%
1981	—	3,807	0.259%
1982	—	3,764	0.2519%
1983	—	3,482	0.236%
1984	—	3,532	0.2374%
1985	—	3,569	0.2351%
1986	—	3,455	0.2289%
1987	—	3,453	0.2263%
1988	—	3,558	0.2283%
1989	—	3,778	0.2341%
1990	—	3,922	0.2366%
1991	—	3,817	0.2342%
1992	—	3,428	0.2148%
1993	—	3,413	0.2189%
1994	—	3,203	0.2087%
1995	—	3,267	0.2168%
1996	—	3,317	0.2215%
1997	—	3,196	0.2161%
1998	—	3,213	0.2147%
1999	—	3,287	0.2195%
2000	—	3,393	0.2221%
2001	—	3,518	0.2335%
2002	—	3,602	0.2404%
2003	—	3,920	0.2577%
2004	—	4,739	0.3109%
2005	—	4,588	0.3001%
2006	—	4,650	0.297%
2007	—	4,547	0.2882%
2008	—	5,627	0.3641%
2009	—	6,788	0.4542%
2010	—	6,536	0.4535%
2011	—	6,389	0.4484%
2012	—	5,767	0.4047%
2013	—	5,599	0.3933%
2014	—	5,597	0.3842%
2015	—	5,616	0.386%
2016	—	5,398	0.3744%
2017	—	5,151	0.3691%
2018	—	4,986	0.3629%
2019	—	4,730	0.3494%
2020	—	4,422	0.3474%
2021	—	3,868	0.3164%
2022	—	4,160	0.3153%
2023	—	3,965	0.3064%

Alaska (AK)

Alabama (AL)

Arkansas (AR)

Arizona (AZ)

California (CA)

Colorado (CO)

Connecticut (CT)

District of Columbia (DC)

Delaware (DE)

Florida (FL)

Georgia (GA)

Hawaii (HI)

Iowa (IA)

Idaho (ID)

Illinois (IL)

Indiana (IN)

Kansas (KS)

Kentucky (KY)

Louisiana (LA)

Massachusetts (MA)

Maryland (MD)

Maine (ME)

Michigan (MI)

Minnesota (MN)

Missouri (MO)

Mississippi (MS)

Montana (MT)

North Carolina (NC)

North Dakota (ND)

Nebraska (NE)

New Hampshire (NH)

New Jersey (NJ)

New Mexico (NM)

Nevada (NV)

New York (NY)

Ohio (OH)

Oklahoma (OK)

Oregon (OR)

Pennsylvania (PA)

Rhode Island (RI)

South Carolina (SC)

South Dakota (SD)

Tennessee (TN)

Texas (TX)

Utah (UT)

Virginia (VA)

Vermont (VT)

Washington (WA)

Wisconsin (WI)

West Virginia (WV)

Wyoming (WY)

Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Leah

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

What names are diminutives of Leah?

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

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender
Lee	Meadow or pasture	English
Leigh	Delicate; weary; meadow or pasture	Hebrew

What names are variants of Leah?

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

Name	Meaning	Origin
Lea	Delicate; weary; meadow or pasture	Hebrew
Leia	Weary one	Hebrew
Leigha
Leya	The law	Spanish
Lia	Weary one	Hebrew

What names sound like Leah?

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

Name	Meaning	Origin
Bria	High, noble, exalted	Irish
Gia	God is gracious	Italian
Leonora	Compassion; light	Greek
Liana	To twine around	French
Lida	Loved by the people	Slavic
Lisa	A variant-diminutive of Elizabeth, “to the Lord I consecrate thee.”	Hebrew
Mia	Dear	Scandinavian

What names are similar to Leah?

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

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender

Anna	Gracious	Hebrew
Beth	House	Hebrew
Cora	Maiden	Greek
Grace	Gracious one	English
Hannah	Grace	Hebrew
Josephine	God will increase	Hebrew
Lucy	Of the light	English
Miriam	Of the sea	Hebrew
Ruth	Friend	Hebrew
Sarah	Princess	Hebrew

Lists With Leah

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Leah.

Siblings of Leah

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

Name	Meaning	Origin
Devin	From dark-haired ones	Irish
John David
Russell	Little red	English
Garrett	Spear rule	English
Wesley	Western meadow	English

Share Your Thoughts

23 Comments

Leah lou snelling Aug 13 at 11:23 pm

My name is Leah Lou Snelling. I was born 9/27/1984. Park rapids minnesota. 11:27 a.m.

Reply
leah Oct 14 at 8:39 am

My name is Leah and I think it’s a pretty good name. There is not any nicknames though so kinda sad. 🙁

Reply
- Zoey Oct 14 at 8:41 am
  
  hi Leah guys this is my best friend Leah please make her famous shes really kind and caring, lets all brainstorm some nicknames for Leah maybe like leahatha or little leah
  
  Reply
Dana+Ndanu Jun 26 at 1:20 pm

I mate a woman on the plane headed to Charlotte a few months before we were even expecting. We begin to have really good conversation about parenting and homeschooling. In the midst of the conversation she told me that even though my heart desires a boy that my 7th child would be a girl and the name is Leah. I didn’t want to believe her first because I really wanted a boy second because the name Leah means”weary” and I really disliked that name. As you can see she was right we had a girl so we decided go on ahead and name her Leah. I’m glad we decided to name her Leah because she’s an absolute bundle of joy and the most calm and gentle baby anyone could pray for.

Reply
Slay girl Nov 17 at 10:55 am

I like my name. I want to change it though but, this is my name and I know I should love it so that’s why my name is Leah.It’s a very pretty name though

Reply
arya Nov 15 at 9:30 am

my bestie is named leah

Reply
Naomi Sep 18 at 7:58 am

I chose the name Leah for my grandmother who died, her name was Aaliyah. I thought it would be best for her and to remember her because of my girl ?

Reply
Leah Grace Nov 28 at 2:00 pm

I used to hate my name until I realised how beautiful it is. I was even thinking about naming my soon to be daughter Leah! Really like this name and it’s meaning.

Reply
Veronica Aug 5 at 3:24 pm

Leah is a name of my beautiful one if a kind granddaughter. Her second name is Alexa.
It totally fits her ,her personality, is short & sweet

Reply
Leah Aug 12 at 12:02 pm

The Hebrew pronunciation of it is actually Lay-ah. Anglicized pronunciation is Lee-ah. Would be nice if people knew this…so sick of people mispronouncing it no matter how many times you correct them.

Reply
- Léah Apr 29 at 8:38 am
  
  so true, I am always finding myself getting called lee-ah or lee-uhe My name has an accent, like Leah, so it should be pronounced Lay-ah, as a mix of french and english.
  
  Reply
Rhonda Aug 6 at 7:42 am

Malcolm maya and leah love them to the moon and back my whole world

Reply
Mama Nov 24 at 8:10 pm

Nice name

Reply
Angel Goodwin Nov 23 at 10:24 am

I picked Leah because me and my boyfriend thought it was a beautiful name that we haven’t heard a lot. Also we liked the way it flowed with her middle name shea.

Reply
Leah Sep 6 at 1:41 pm

Is a nice name I get from my sister she found in Google names for baby girl

Reply
Jenniffer Aug 31 at 5:36 am

I always loved the name i think is simple and cute.-Also her dad name is Leafar so it matches with Leah

Reply
Nichole Aug 27 at 3:47 pm

Short and sweet!

Reply
Dawn Jun 12 at 9:49 am

Leah’s great grandfather (deceased) was Leroy. Her father, brothers, and grandfather (deceased) all have Lee as their middle names. Leah was my way of paying respect to that tradition and the memories of her grandfathers.

Reply
Lizelle Jun 10 at 3:11 am

1. I chose the name Leah because it has bought the name of her mother (Lizelle) and father (Lee).
2. I like the name Leah because it is short and sweet.
3. Leah is such an easy going name and very easy to spell and pronounce and she really carries her name out well.

Reply
Nichole Apr 26 at 8:49 am

We practiced saying names we thought we liked by calling her for dinner or pretended yelling at her! If they didn’t feel right we went to the next name. We ended up with Leah Marie and it stuck and felt right even after we finally met her on her birth date! We even practiced boy names in case we had a boy.

Reply
- Leah Marie Pierce Jun 12 at 5:50 am
  
  Same name! I love my name to be honest!
  
  Reply
  - Leah-Marie sage rosewood Apr 1 at 2:54 pm
    
    My name too. Love the simplicity and elegance at the same time that it’s an unusual name to be heard.
    
    Reply
Erinn Apr 13 at 8:44 pm

I was watching a signing time movie and the girls name was Leah. I thought it was cute and my husband loved it. I don’t like the meaning- it means weary.

Reply

Leah