girl's name
Leah
LEE-uh
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 322,454
the United States
#58
2025 births
Leah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is disputed, most often given as "weary" but also linked to a word for wild cow. In Genesis she is Jacob's first wife, married to him through her father's deception, and the mother of six of the twelve tribes.
- Leah is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 2009, when 6,799 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 854 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Leah over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 809 |
| 1890s | 1,671 |
| 1900s | 1,747 |
| 1910s | 4,253 |
| 1920s | 4,453 |
| 1930s | 3,539 |
| 1940s | 3,495 |
| 1950s | 5,960 |
| 1960s | 12,775 |
| 1970s | 21,221 |
| 1980s | 36,210 |
| 1990s | 34,138 |
| 2000s | 45,510 |
| 2010s | 56,113 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 25,060 |
What Leah means
Leah is usually translated as weary or tired, from a Hebrew root meaning to be weary. An alternative derivation connects it to an Akkadian word for wild cow, which would place it alongside her sister Rachel, whose name means ewe — a pairing several scholars consider deliberate.
Where Leah comes from
Leah comes from the Hebrew Le'ah, and its root is genuinely contested. The traditional reading takes it from la'ah, to be weary. A competing proposal draws on the Akkadian littu, meaning cow, which gains force from the fact that her sister Rachel's name means ewe: a pair of sisters named for livestock would fit the pastoral world the Genesis narrative describes. Leah's story is unusually sympathetic in its detail — Jacob works seven years for Rachel and is given Leah instead, and the text says plainly that she was unloved — and the names she gives her sons form a sequence of statements about that situation. Six of the twelve tribes of Israel descend from her.
Leah in use
Leah and Rachel may be named for cow and ewe respectively, which would make them a deliberate pair.
How popular is Leah?
In 2025, Leah was given to 3,880 babies in the United States, ranking #58 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Leah is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Leah is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Léah | Léah is Leah written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #1,931. | 450 |
Names that peaked alongside Leah
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Leah also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Leah over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Leah in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Leah
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Leah — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Leah
What does the name Leah mean?
Leah is most often translated as "weary," though an alternative derivation links it to a word for wild cow.
Who was Leah in the Bible?
Jacob's first wife in Genesis, married to him through her father's deception, and mother of six of the twelve tribes.
Are Leah and Rachel's names connected?
Possibly. Rachel means ewe, and one reading of Leah gives cow, which would make the sisters a deliberate pair.
How popular is the name Leah?
In 2025, Leah was given to 3,880 babies in the United States, ranking #58 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Is Leah a girl's or a boy's name?
Leah is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Leah?
Leah has 2 syllables.
When was Leah most popular?
Leah peaked in 2009, when 6,799 babies were given the name. Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
Is Leah a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Leah currently ranks #56 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.