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

Leah Name Origin: Hebrew
Pronunciation: lee-ah
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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	293	136	0.0386%
1911	285	145	0.0389%
1912	257	259	0.0514%
1913	251	318	0.0561%
1914	248	421	0.0604%
1915	252	519	0.0571%
1916	267	479	0.0496%
1917	268	494	0.0494%
1918	257	557	0.0519%
1919	275	490	0.0468%
1920	287	483	0.0434%
1921	296	454	0.0396%
1922	291	452	0.0406%
1923	293	443	0.0396%
1924	297	467	0.0402%
1925	318	395	0.0349%
1926	314	404	0.0367%
1927	369	296	0.0267%
1928	337	352	0.0329%
1929	375	269	0.026%
1930	375	277	0.0265%
1931	363	268	0.0272%
1932	404	220	0.0223%
1933	336	299	0.0321%
1934	314	349	0.0361%
1935	334	317	0.0326%
1936	346	286	0.0297%
1937	309	364	0.0369%
1938	327	336	0.0328%
1939	321	329	0.0323%
1940	335	324	0.0305%
1941	369	292	0.0259%
1942	405	272	0.0215%
1943	444	232	0.0178%
1944	427	241	0.0194%
1945	445	213	0.0175%
1946	433	271	0.0184%
1947	411	344	0.0206%
1948	410	335	0.021%
1949	367	411	0.0255%
1950	382	404	0.0251%
1951	379	422	0.0249%
1952	373	454	0.026%
1953	342	548	0.031%
1954	370	513	0.0281%
1955	356	558	0.0303%
1956	338	641	0.0339%
1957	335	710	0.0369%
1958	361	617	0.0326%
1959	350	711	0.0374%
1960	343	737	0.0389%
1961	328	781	0.0414%
1962	294	956	0.0521%
1963	243	1,278	0.0712%
1964	227	1,407	0.0799%
1965	228	1,359	0.0831%
1966	219	1,366	0.0875%
1967	197	1,594	0.105%
1968	193	1,605	0.1069%
1969	209	1,479	0.096%
1970	191	1,664	0.1046%
1971	181	1,673	0.1113%
1972	177	1,581	0.1161%
1973	175	1,572	0.1213%
1974	149	1,831	0.1409%
1975	132	2,112	0.1644%
1976	117	2,264	0.1757%
1977	112	2,580	0.1914%
1978	108	2,712	0.2017%
1979	98	3,078	0.2183%
1980	84	3,634	0.2485%
1981	81	3,807	0.259%
1982	79	3,764	0.2519%
1983	82	3,482	0.236%
1984	83	3,532	0.2374%
1985	78	3,569	0.2351%
1986	78	3,455	0.2289%
1987	82	3,453	0.2263%
1988	82	3,558	0.2283%
1989	83	3,778	0.2341%
1990	82	3,922	0.2366%
1991	91	3,817	0.2342%
1992	95	3,428	0.2148%
1993	92	3,413	0.2189%
1994	101	3,203	0.2087%
1995	103	3,267	0.2168%
1996	98	3,317	0.2215%
1997	104	3,196	0.2161%
1998	107	3,213	0.2147%
1999	103	3,287	0.2195%
2000	97	3,393	0.2221%
2001	87	3,518	0.2335%
2002	87	3,602	0.2404%
2003	81	3,920	0.2577%
2004	64	4,739	0.3109%
2005	68	4,588	0.3001%
2006	68	4,650	0.297%
2007	67	4,547	0.2882%
2008	40	5,627	0.3641%
2009	29	6,788	0.4542%
2010	24	6,536	0.4535%
2011	29	6,389	0.4484%
2012	33	5,767	0.4047%
2013	32	5,599	0.3933%
2014	35	5,597	0.3842%
2015	36	5,616	0.386%
2016	37	5,398	0.3744%
2017	40	5,151	0.3691%
2018	41	4,986	0.3629%
2019	44	4,730	0.3494%
2020	44	4,422	0.3474%
2021	54	3,868	0.3164%
2022	52	4,160	0.3153%

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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

19 Comments

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

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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 ?

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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-uh? My name has an accent, like L?ah, 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

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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

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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

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Nichole Aug 27 at 3:47 pm

Short and sweet!

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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.

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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.

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