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.

Infographic of Leah name meaning, which is Meaning weary one, Leah is a Hebrew name.
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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 Popularity Other Gender
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 Popularity Other Gender
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 Popularity Other Gender
Devin

From dark-haired ones

Irish

John David
Russell

Little red

English

Garrett

Spear rule

English

Wesley

Western meadow

English

20 Comments

  1. 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

  2. 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

  3. my bestie is named leah

    Reply

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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

    • 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

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

    Reply

  9. Nice name

    Reply

  10. 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

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

    Reply

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

    Reply

  13. Short and sweet!

    Reply

  14. 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

  15. 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

  16. 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

    • Same name! I love my name to be honest!

      Reply

      • My name too. Love the simplicity and elegance at the same time that it’s an unusual name to be heard.

        Reply

  17. 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

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