Leo
Climbing fast in Poland: more boys carry it now than in any earlier year, and it has moved into the top 500. At root it's the Latin word for "lion".
Leo Pronunciation
Leo is pronounced LE-o (/ˈlɛɔ/).
What Leo means
Where Leo comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Leo comes straight from the Latin word for lion. Roman writers used leo for the animal, and the Latin itself borrowed from the Greek leon, so the cognate sits one language over. The Polish for lion is lew, which puts the same beast behind the name in two tongues.
The lion carried the name far. More than a dozen popes have used it, from Leo the Great in the fifth century onward, which kept it in church calendars and, later, on Polish name-day lists.
In Poland the fuller form Leon has long stood beside it, and a boy written as Leo in a school register might be Leon on his birth certificate. The two share one root and one short meaning. Whatever else attaches to it, the name still says lion, lew, leo.
How many people are named Leo
1 in 3702 men in Poland is named Leo. 5,789 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #461 among male names.
Leo's popularity over time
601 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #98 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2001.
Where parents choose Leo
Leo is most popular in Lubusz, 61% above the national average (131 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Kuyavian-Pomeranian (+28%) and Lower Silesian (+27%). It is least common in Podlaskie and Lublin, 41% and 38% below average respectively.
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Lubusz
+61%1 in 379 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
+28%1 in 476 babies
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Lower Silesian
+27%1 in 481 babies
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Podlaskie
−41%1 in 1,028 babies
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Lublin
−38%1 in 978 babies
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Lesser Poland
−23%1 in 791 babies
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Lubusz+61% 131 born1 in 379 babies+61%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+28% 230 born1 in 476 babies+28%
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Lower Silesian+27% 327 born1 in 481 babies+27%
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West Pomeranian+27% 176 born1 in 480 babies+27%
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Opole+20% 91 born1 in 507 babies+20%
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Greater Poland+20% 422 born1 in 510 babies+20%
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Pomeranian+19% 288 born1 in 512 babies+19%
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Warmian-Masurian+16% 137 born1 in 524 babies+16%
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Silesian−8% 345 born1 in 660 babies−8%
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Subcarpathian−9% 179 born1 in 674 babies−9%
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Łódź−11% 186 born1 in 681 babies−11%
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Masovian−13% 504 born1 in 703 babies−13%
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Holy Cross−20% 73 born1 in 759 babies−20%
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Lesser Poland−23% 287 born1 in 791 babies−23%
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Lublin−38% 105 born1 in 978 babies−38%
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Podlaskie−41% 64 born1 in 1,028 babies−41%
Leo as a middle name
Leo is a first name for 5,789 men in Poland and a middle name for another 862, an 87/13 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 246th, between Victor (867) and Nicolas (841).
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#244 George870
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#245 Victor867
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#246 Leo862
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#247 Nicolas841
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#248 Javier823