girl's name
Leia
LAY-uh
- Origin Invented
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 29,421
the United States
#297
2025 births
Leia is a girl's name whose modern use comes almost entirely from Star Wars. George Lucas never gave it an etymology, and it is distinct from the Hebrew Leah, which is an older name with its own separate history and pronunciation.
- Leia is a name of Invented origin.
- Peaked in 2023, when 1,424 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,209 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1949.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Leia over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1940s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1940s | 7 |
| 1950s | 16 |
| 1960s | 220 |
| 1970s | 518 |
| 1980s | 974 |
| 1990s | 764 |
| 2000s | 2,103 |
| 2010s | 7,238 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,938 |
What Leia means
Leia has no inherited meaning. It is an invented name from a 1977 film, and the meanings attached to it since — usually borrowed from Leah or from Hawaiian lei — were applied afterwards rather than being its source.
Where Leia comes from
Leia entered the world in 1977 as Princess Leia Organa, and George Lucas, who built most of his names for sound, left no derivation on record. Attempts to supply one usually reach for the Hebrew Leah, from a root possibly meaning weary or possibly a word for a wild cow, or for the Hawaiian lei, a garland. Neither is the source. Our records show the pattern clearly: Leia appears from 1949 in tiny numbers and then climbs from the late 1970s, with the sharpest rise following the 2015 sequel films — the shape of a name carried by a franchise rather than a tradition.
Leia in use
Leia charts in six of the seven countries we track and peaked in 2023, nearly fifty years after the first film.
How popular is Leia?
In 2025, Leia was given to 1,033 babies in the United States, ranking #297 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Leia 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 Leia is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Leïa | Leïa is Leia written with a diaeresis, used in France, where it ranks #290. | 2,450 |
| Léïa | Léïa is Leia written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #769. | 485 |
| Léia | Léia is a rare spelling of Leia, written with an acute accent and recorded about 305 times, mostly in France. | 305 |
Names that peaked alongside Leia
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Leia also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Leia over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Leia
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Leia 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 Leia
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Leia — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Leia
What does the name Leia mean?
Nothing inherited. It was coined for Star Wars in 1977 and any meaning given for it has been attached since.
Is Leia the same as Leah?
No. Leah is an older Hebrew name with its own history, and the two are usually pronounced differently — LAY-uh against LEE-uh.
How do you pronounce Leia?
LAY-uh, following the films.
How popular is the name Leia?
In 2025, Leia was given to 1,033 babies in the United States, ranking #297 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Leia a girl's or a boy's name?
Leia is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Leia?
Leia has 2 syllables.
When was Leia most popular?
Leia peaked in 2023, when 1,424 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Leia?
Leia is usually shortened to Lei.
Is Leia a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Leia currently ranks #280 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.