Lea

femaleHebrew, via German/French/Finnish transmission

A form of Leah used across several European languages.

Origin: Hebrew, via German/French/Finnish transmission

Official popularity data is available for 5 regions, from 1975 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #55 in Norway in 2004. See regions.

Lea: Recorded since 1975, it reached #55 in 2004, and it was still inside the top 100 in 2025.

5registrars recorded it
133times a registrar ranked it
51years from first to last
#55highest recorded position
23groupings it qualifies for

LAY-ah/ˈleː.a/

Compare Lea Run Name Checker on Lea

Data Confidence

Evidence: HighCompleteness: CompleteEditorial review: 2026-07-21

Confidence in the evidencebehind this name's data — never a rating of the name itself, and never affected by how well it matches your preferences. How this is assessed

Because: backed by officially or academically authoritative sources, recently verified, popularity data covers multiple regions.

Source authority

Averaged from the real per-claim source-authority assessments already computed for this name's meaning/origin/pronunciation/popularity evidence.

Independent corroboration

Averaged from the real per-claim supporting-source counts already computed for this name's evidence.

See full evidence assessment (8 dimensions, 1 not yet tracked)

Source agreement

No recorded source disagreement for this name's meanings or origins.

Recency

Calculated from how long ago this record was last verified (2026-07-21), against a 270-day staleness threshold.

Geographic relevance

Calculated from the number of geographies with official popularity data (5) — broader official coverage means the evidence base is relevant to more of where the name is actually used.

Completeness

Calculated from how many of the expected data sections (variants, similar names, popularity, notable usage, IPA pronunciation) are actually populated for this name.

Direct observation vs. inference

Averaged from the real per-claim direct-observation-vs-inference ratios already computed for this name's evidence.

Identity & variant resolution quality

Cross-source identity and variant resolution requires HEKNO Knowledge, which isn't connected yet.

Name Characteristics

How these are calculated

Descriptive attributes of the name itself — not a confidence measurement, and not an overall quality score. Namewise doesn't approve or disapprove of names.

Pronunciation clarity

Editorial judgement of how consistently this name is pronounced correctly on first read, mapped from an easy/moderate/variable rating to a number. Describes the name — not a measure of evidence confidence.

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling: shorter names with fewer irregular letter clusters score higher. A disclosed formula, not an editorial opinion — and not a confidence measurement.

Recorded regional spread

Derived from how many geographies' official statistics record this name. It measures where the name is registered, not how well-known it feels to people living there.

International spread

Derived from the same official statistical coverage, scaled to reflect how widely the name crosses national datasets. Not a measure of how easily it is understood in another language.

Trend stability

Derived from the name's traditional/modern classification and its current popularity trend direction.

Overview

Origin: Hebrew, via German/French/Finnish transmission
Meaning: A form of Leah used across several European languages.
Pronunciation: LAY-ah
Syllables: 1
Common nicknames: None recorded
Classification: Traditional & modern
Gender usage: female
Language family: Hebrew, via German/French/Finnish transmission

Popularity

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2025

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#753
1997	#721
1998	#628
1999	#453
2000	#655
2001	#523
2002	#540
2003	#519
2004	#542
2005	#604
2006	#497
2007	#623
2008	#650
2009	#738
2010	#773
2011	#629
2012	#573
2013	#652
2014	#597
2015	#549
2016	#684
2017	#503
2018	#583
2019	#526
2020	#472
2021	#567
2022	#541
2023	#637
2024	#603
2025	#622

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Norway in 48 of the 51 years from 1975 to 2025.

In 2025: #82 among girls in Norway, #483 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #622 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 5 national registrars across 5 regions, 1975–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1975
First recorded at #610 among girls in Norway in 1975 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #622 among girls in England and Wales, in 2025.
England and Wales · Girls

Lea appears in 5 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Norway · Girls, which has ranked it in 48 years beginning in 1975, and has registered 2,468 births with the name.

Lea across 5 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Lea's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Norway · Girls	#610 (1975)	#55 (2004)	#82 (2025)	48 of 51	2,468 (1975–2025)	132 (2004)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#503 (1975)	#226 (2006)	#483 (2025)	41 of 51	377 (1975–2025)	21 (2009)
England and Wales · Girls	#753 (1996)	#453 (1999)	#622 (2025)	30 of 30	1,825 (1996–2025)	86 (2017)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#331 (2003)	#301 (2007)	#446 (2021)	11 of 19	40 (2003–2021)	5 (2007)
England and Wales · Boys	#3134 (2001)	#3134 (2001)	#3651 (2004)	2 of 4	6 (2001–2004)	3 (2001)

Lea by decade in Norway · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Lea in Norway · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1970s	9	2 of 10	5
1980s	78	10 of 10	8
1990s	254	10 of 10	25
2000sbusiest	910	10 of 10	91
2010s	727	10 of 10	73
2020s	490	6 of 10	82

Across Norway · Girls, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 91 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2003 and 2004, when recorded births rose by 40, from 92 to 132.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Lea appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

What the record shows

Recorded by 5 registrars between 1975 and 2025, ranked in 50 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #55, first reached in 2004.

It held a top-100 place in 25 years, 13 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 132 births, registered in Norway in 2004.

Its record falls into 2 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 1 year.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1975, and 49 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Lea was ranked #55 in Norway · Girls in 2004. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Celine#51
Sarah#52
Dina#53
Eline#54
Stine#56
Ella#57
Henriette#58
Marthe#59

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Lazer · #2512, 12y
Le · #2407, 15y
Leah · #9, 58y
Leah-Mae · #2887, 12y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 5 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Antony · #56, 47y
Jakub · #57, 53y
Carly · #52, 47y
Lindsay · #58, 55y

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1970 and 1979.

Francesca · #53, 49y
Jakub · #57, 53y
Kane · #57, 45y
Aodhan · #52, 45y

Lea and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,577 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Lea without appearing here.

Lea moved ahead of

Katrina
In 2010 they stood at #773 and #747 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2011 that had become #629 and #1067.
Ida
In 2024 they stood at #727 and #625 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2025 that had become #483 and #885.
Bridget
In 2010 they stood at #773 and #773 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2011 that had become #629 and #1015.
Danielle
In 2016 they stood at #684 and #655 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2017 that had become #503 and #870.

Moved ahead of Lea

Violet
In 2004 they stood at #542 and #607 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2005 that had become #604 and #273.
Alyssa
In 1999 they stood at #453 and #483 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2000 that had become #655 and #344.
Sadie
In 2007 they stood at #259 and #267 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2008 that had become #501 and #194.
Harper
In 2011 they stood at #629 and #858 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #573 and #284.

Moved the opposite way to Lea

Anita
Between 1975 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Lea went from #610 to #82 while Anita went from #9 to #459.
Anne
Between 1975 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Lea went from #610 to #82 while Anne went from #2 to #159.
Aud
Between 1975 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Lea went from #610 to #82 while Aud went from #169 to #427.
Bjørg
Between 1975 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Lea went from #610 to #82 while Bjørg went from #142 to #369.

Moved the same way as Lea

Ada
Between 1975 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Lea went from #610 to #82 and Ada from #535 to #18.
Alma
Between 1975 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Lea went from #610 to #82 and Alma from #417 to #8.
Andrea
Between 1975 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Lea went from #610 to #82 and Andrea from #251 to #98.
Anna
Between 1975 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Lea went from #610 to #82 and Anna from #42 to #23.

Meaning & Origin

A form of Leah used across several European languages.

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Hebrew, via German/French/Finnish transmission

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Other names with a researched meaning and origin →

Where Lea is officially recorded

5 official registrars have recorded Lea, between 1975 and 2025, in 50 of those 51 years. Each registrar publishes for its own population on its own methodology, so the positions below are each one country's own ranking and are not comparable with one another.

Registrar	Recorded	Years	Its own highest position
Republic of Ireland	1975–2025	41	#226 in 2006
Norway	1975–2025	48	#55 in 2004
England and Wales	1996–2025	30	#453 in 1999
Northern Ireland	2003–2021	11	#301 in 2007
Scotland	2024	1	#541 in 2024

Its high point came 25 years earlier in England and Wales (1999) than in Scotland (2024).

Variants

Leah · spelling
Léa · spelling

Similar Names

No similar names recorded yet for this name.

Similarity is a demonstration score — see methodology.

Spelling

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling — see Name Characteristics above.

Common alternate spellings: Leah, Léa.

Pronunciation

LAY-ah/ˈleː.a/

Syllables: 1
Ease: easy

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Where Lea Is Recorded

National statistical agencies have recorded Lea in these places. This shows where the name is used — not where it comes from, and not that it carries particular cultural significance there.

England and WalesNorthern IrelandScotlandRepublic of IrelandNorway

Notable Usage

No safely-sourced notable usage recorded for this name yet.

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

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Lea

Lea at a glance

Overview

Popularity

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Lea across 5 official records

Lea by decade in Norway · Girls

Lea appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Lea

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Lea and the names beside it

Lea moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Lea

Moved the opposite way to Lea

Moved the same way as Lea

Meaning & Origin

Where Lea is officially recorded

Variants

Similar Names

Spelling

Pronunciation

Where Lea Is Recorded

Notable Usage

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

Lea at a glance

Lea across 5 official records

Lea by decade in Norway · Girls

Lea appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Lea

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1970s

Lea and the names beside it

Lea moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Lea

Moved the opposite way to Lea

Moved the same way as Lea