Given name & surname
Leander
“people”·“man”
Leander is a masculine given name from Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in English, Swedish, and Finnish.
Original GreekΛέανδρος
Meaning & origin
What it means
Leander is built from elements meaning “people” and “man”.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
In English usage, Leander developed from Λέανδρος.
The story
In mythological stories, Leander is associated with Hero's lover. The name’s historical associations include a 6th-century saint, the brother of Sts Fulgentius, Isidore, and Florentina.
Leander through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 6,956
- 6,928 boys · 28 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 122 babies
- 2025
- 122
- #1,463 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +37%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 122 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,463 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 36.8% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (21). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 3,184 as a first name in 2020; 764 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Leander’s family of names
Leander shares a linguistic root with Leandro. Leander has a related form in Leandre. In English usage, Leander has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Leandro.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Leander has relatives in 7 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Leander comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 11
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Leandrovariant · Portuguese, Italian
- Leandrevariant
- Liandrovariant
- Leandrosvariant · German
- Leandrewvariant
- Liandervariant
- Leandevariant
- Leandvariant
Show 3 moreShow fewer
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Leander
- Leander PaesIndian tennis playerborn 1973
- Leander DendonckerBelgian association football player (born 1995)
- Leander of Sevillebishop of Seville534–600
- Leander Starr JamesonPrime Minister of the Cape Colony (1853-1917)
- Leander EngströmSwedish architect and painter (1886-1927)
- Leander CzernyAustrian entomologist (1859-1944)
- Leander HaußmannGerman film directorborn 1959
- Leander IkonenFinnish politician and architect1860–1918
- Leander de CordovaJamaican actor and film director (1877-1969)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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