Girls' name · peaked in 1970
Lea name popularity since 1925
32,836 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Lea (98.7% girls, 1.3% boys). Half of them were born in 1984 or earlier, so the typical Lea is about 42 years old in 2026. Lea peaked in 1970 as the #397 name for girls, and it ranked #848 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 32,836
- Named Lea, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #848
- for girls in 2025 (321 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 98.7% girls
- 32,399 girls · 437 boys
- Most popular in
- California
- 1.43× its national share
Peak year is the year Lea made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Lea births per year, 1925–2025
1970 was the biggest year for Lea both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1953 and 1958, Lea became 2.2× more common, from 1 in 9,800 baby girls to 1 in 4,510.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Lea's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Lea.
Decade by decade
Babies named Lea in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 328 | 76 | – |
| 1930s | 671 | 81 | #878 |
| 1940s | 1,099 | 74 | #770 |
| 1950s | 2,889 | 61 | #502 |
| 1960s | 4,493 | 61 | #455 |
| 1970s | 4,453 | 42 | #466 |
| 1980s | 3,944 | 42 | #528 |
| 1990s | 3,831 | 0 | #649 |
| 2000s | 4,250 | 0 | #602 |
| 2010s | 4,341 | 0 | #739 |
| 2020–25 | 2,100 | 0 | #848 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
22.6% of babies named Lea from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Lea is most popular
The index compares Lea's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Lea.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| California | 1.43× | 4,185 |
| New Jersey | 1.35× | 1,034 |
| New York | 1.34× | 2,826 |
| Florida | 1.31× | 1,316 |
| Massachusetts | 1.27× | 838 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Lea and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Lea (this page) | 32,399 | 1970 |
| Leah | 245,494 | 2009 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Lea's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Lea.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Lea (1970).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data