girl's name
Lia
LEE-a
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 3
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 41,278
the United States
#200
2025 births
Lia is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the Italian and Portuguese form of Leah — whose own meaning is disputed between "weary" and "wild cow," neither of them especially flattering.
- Lia is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 2024, when 1,610 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,173 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1933.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Lia over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1930s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1930s | 7 |
| 1940s | 33 |
| 1950s | 273 |
| 1960s | 790 |
| 1970s | 1,060 |
| 1980s | 1,606 |
| 1990s | 1,958 |
| 2000s | 5,098 |
| 2010s | 9,749 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 7,942 |
What Lia means
Lia inherits Leah's contested meaning. Weary or delicate is the traditional reading; a competing account gives wild cow, from an Akkadian word, which would make it a parallel to Rachel meaning ewe.
Where Lia comes from
Lia is the Italian, Portuguese and Greek form of the Hebrew Leah, Jacob's first wife and the mother of six of the twelve tribes. Her name is traditionally read from la'ah, to be weary, though many scholars prefer an Akkadian littu, a cow — which pairs neatly with her sister Rachel, whose name means ewe. Lia is separately a short form of Amelia, Julia and Rosalia, and a Greek name in its own right, so bearers reach it by several routes.
Lia in use
Our data shows Lia peaking in 2024 and still rising, at 200 in the United States against 434 in England and Wales. It first appears in our records in 1933. It sits with Mia, Maia and Talia among short vowel-led names rising together — a group whose shared shape matters more to their popularity than their unrelated origins.
How popular is Lia?
In 2025, Lia was given to 1,526 babies in the United States, ranking #200 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Lia 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 Lia is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Lïa | Lïa is Lia written with a diaeresis, used in France, where it ranks #1,516. | 425 |
| Lía | Lía is a rare spelling of Lia, written with a fada and recorded 13 times, mostly in Ireland. | 13 |
Names that peaked alongside Lia
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Lia also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Lia over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Lia 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 Lia
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Lia — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Lia
What does the name Lia mean?
It inherits Leah's disputed meaning — traditionally "weary," though many scholars prefer an Akkadian word for a cow.
Is Lia the same as Leah?
Yes — Lia is the Italian, Portuguese and Greek form of the same Hebrew name.
Why would a name mean wild cow?
It pairs with her sister Rachel, whose name means ewe. Livestock names were unremarkable in that culture.
How popular is the name Lia?
In 2025, Lia was given to 1,526 babies in the United States, ranking #200 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Lia a girl's or a boy's name?
Lia is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Lia?
Lia has 2 syllables.
When was Lia most popular?
Lia peaked in 2024, when 1,610 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Lia a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Lia currently ranks #200 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.