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Leah

Meaning, origin and pronunciation, with published usage by place and year.

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Meaning

Cow-related Hebrew etymology; other licensed glosses unverified

The linked Hebrew personal-name entry derives Leah from a Proto-Semitic cow word and gives a possible deeper verbal-root connection. This is the cited etymological account, not a description of a bearer. The licensed tired and meadow interpretations are not established by the reviewed entries and remain unverified alternatives.

Origin

Hebrew name used in English.

The exact English given-name entry derives Leah from Hebrew לֵאָה. The licensed meadow and tired glosses are not established by this entry.

English pronunciation

/ˈliːə/

Directly recorded English pronunciation of the exact given-name spelling. The plain-text guide is approximate; a bearer’s preferred reading can differ. No audio reused.

Recorded English reading, as published. Accents and preferred pronunciations can differ.

Published name usage

Counts apply only to the exact spelling, place, year and recorded usage shown. Places are separate; these figures are never added into a worldwide total. Missing or suppressed records never mean zero.

Latest published record available for this spelling in each place and recorded usage
PlaceYearRecorded usagePublished birthsRankNotes
Canada2025Girls317 · preliminary742025 figures are preliminary. Quebec counts below five are randomly imputed by the publisher before national aggregation. Accents are removed in the source; this profile was matched only where the catalog spelling was unambiguous. Unpublished values are unknown, not zero. Rank basis: source published.
France2025Girls25 (rounded to 5)1391Counts are rounded to the nearest multiple of five. Ranks use unrounded publisher counts with randomly ordered ties; equally rounded counts can have different ranks. National coverage excludes Mayotte before 2012. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Automated direction labels are withheld for this rounded-count series. Rank basis: source published.
England & Wales2025Girls273183Published ranks differ from ranks calculated over visible rows. Counts retained; automated trend labels withheld. Rank basis: source published.
Northern Ireland2025Girls14140Two rank discrepancies and alternate-view differences retained. Automated trend labels withheld. Rank basis: source published.
Scotland2025Girls33135Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published.
Ireland2025Girls8855Names below three occurrences are unpublished. Accent recording changed in 2018; comparisons across that boundary may not describe the same spelling coverage. Counts refer to registrations in the year. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Rank basis: source published.
United States2025Girls3,88058Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: calculated from published counts.
United States2022Boys610863Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: calculated from published counts.

Canada, Ireland and France coverage includes confidently matched existing profiles only; unmatched spellings are awaiting review. French counts are rounded to five.

Sources & notes

Open an entry for its source, credit, licence and full qualifications. Different name traditions remain separate.

Language of use: English

Checked against cited source

The exact English entry explicitly documents given-name use; this is distinct from linguistic origin, nationality and ancestry. Credit: Wiktionary contributors; adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

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This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

Meaning: Cow-related Hebrew etymology; other licensed glosses unverified

Checked against cited source

The linked Hebrew personal-name entry derives Leah from a Proto-Semitic cow word and gives a possible deeper verbal-root connection. This is the cited etymological account, not a description of a bearer. The licensed tired and meadow interpretations are not established by the reviewed entries and remain unverified alternatives. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

Origin: Hebrew name used in English.

Checked against cited source

The exact English given-name entry derives Leah from Hebrew לֵאָה. The licensed meadow and tired glosses are not established by this entry. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

English pronunciation: /ˈliːə/

Checked against cited source

Directly recorded English pronunciation of the exact given-name spelling. The plain-text guide is approximate; a bearer’s preferred reading can differ. No audio reused. Credit: Wiktionary contributors; adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

Supporting evidence: Hebrew Leah: cited etymological account

Checked against cited source

The Hebrew entry explicitly records the biblical person and female given name and cites Astour (1965, page 90) and Kogan (2011, page 205) for its etymology. Those underlying works were not independently inspected in this review. No word-only pronunciation or deeper proposed root is converted into a universal name meaning. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

Syllables: 2 (this documented English reading)

Checked against cited source

Count applies to the cited English reading(s) only, not to every language or personal reading. Credit: Wiktionary contributors; adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

Spelling variant: Lea

Checked against cited source

Relationship explicitly recorded in the reviewed English given-name section. For short forms the longer-name tradition varies; spellings and popularity series remain separate.

Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.

View original source

This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

CC BY-SA 4.0

country_CA

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country_FR

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country_IE

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Source: NISRA : Website: www.nisra.gov.uk

Attribution: Source: NISRA : Website: www.nisra.gov.uk

License: Open Government Licence v3.0

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(C) Crown copyright. Data supplied by National Records of Scotland.

Attribution: (C) Crown copyright. Data supplied by National Records of Scotland.

License: Open Government Licence v3.0

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Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence

Attribution: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence

License: Open Government Licence v3.0

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U.S. Social Security Administration

Attribution: U.S. Social Security Administration

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Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0147-01, 1991–2025, released 23 September 2026.

Credit: Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0147-01, 1991–2025, released 23 September 2026.

License: Statistics Canada Open Licence

Adaptation: Adapted from Statistics Canada, First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators, Table 17-10-0147-01, reference years 1991–2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.

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Central Statistics Office, Ireland, VSA50 and VSA60, updated 27 February 2026.

Credit: Central Statistics Office, Ireland, VSA50 and VSA60, updated 27 February 2026.

License: CC BY 4.0

Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: joined the published count and rank indicators and matched unambiguous existing spellings. Source values retained.

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Source : Insee, Fichier des prénoms, updated 16 July 2026.

Credit: Source : Insee, Fichier des prénoms, updated 16 July 2026.

License: Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab)

Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: column names and sex codes mapped and unique case-only spellings matched to existing profiles. Published rounded counts and ranks retained.

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