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BabyNames
Girl name#161 of girl names

Leah

Pronounced L IY1 AH0 (ARPABET)

  • 2 syllables
  • Peaked 2009
  • 145 years in use
  • Biblical
  • 1 spelling
Compare

How popular is Leah?

Leah is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 281,642 children — the 161st most common girls' name on record.

Its use has been broadly flat across the past two decades. Its best single year was 2009, when 7,689 children were given it.

Lia is counted with it here, since the two are pronounced identically.

02,5005,0007,50010,00018901920195019802010
2009Girls: 7,689Boys: 9

Spelling variants

These spellings sound identical to Leah and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.

  • Lia

Characteristics

  • Biblical (Person)
  • 2 syllables
Phonetic detail
Pronunciations:
L IY1 AH0
Stress pattern:
10
Syllables:
2

Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.

Names like Leah

Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.

Sibling names for Leah

Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.

Frequently asked questions

How popular is the name Leah?
Leah ranks 161st among girls' names in US records, with 281,642 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 60,165.
Is Leah a unisex name?
No. Leah is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
When was Leah most popular?
2009, when 7,689 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
How else is Leah spelled?
Lia. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.