Leonardo
Still rare in Poland but climbing fast: 78 boys were given it in 2025, more than in any year before, and it goes only to boys. A Latin name that reached Poland through Italian and Spanish, it carries the sense of a brave lion.
Leonardo Pronunciation
Leonardo is pronounced le-o-NAHR-do (/lɛɔˈnardɔ/).
What Leonardo means
Where Leonardo comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Leonardo begins with the Latin leo, lion. To that root a Germanic element meaning brave or strong was added, and the two together fix the short meaning: brave lion. Polish readers know the same idea as silny jak lew.
The name settled deepest in Italy and Spain. Its most famous bearer, Leonardo da Vinci, was born in 1452 near the Tuscan town of Vinci, and his single first name now stands for painting, engineering, and anatomy at once. That is a heavy inheritance for a boy on a class register, yet the name wears it lightly.
A Leonardo today can sign an official form at the urząd with all four syllables intact, since the name resists shortening. No standard Polish diminutive has fixed itself to it. What stays is the lion at the front and the old sense of strength behind it: brave lion, silny jak lew.
How many people are named Leonardo
1 in 12683 men in Poland is named Leonardo. 1,683 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #757 among male names.
Leonardo's popularity over time
78 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #275 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where Leonardo is most popular
Leonardo is most popular in Lesser Poland, 66% above the national average (65 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lower Silesian (+59%) and Pomeranian (+38%). It is least common in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and West Pomeranian, 84% and 79% below average respectively.
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Lesser Poland65 boys born+66%
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Lower Silesian43 boys born+59%
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Pomeranian35 boys born+38%
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Masovian82 boys born+34%
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Subcarpathian22 boys born+6%
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Greater Poland38 boys born+3%
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Silesian32 boys born−18%
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Opole6 boys born−24%
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Warmian-Masurian9 boys born−27%
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Podlaskie7 boys born−38%
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Lubusz5 boys born−42%
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Łódź12 boys born−45%
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Lublin8 boys born−55%
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West Pomeranian3 boys born−79%
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Świętokrzyskie2 boys born−79%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian3 boys born−84%
Leonardo as a middle name
Leonardo is a first name for 1,683 men in Poland and a middle name for another 361, an 82/18 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 370th, between Ivan (363) and Viktor (361).
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368
366Steven
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369
363Ivan
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370361Leonardo
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371
361Viktor
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372
360Junior