Leif
A Scandinavian rarity in Poland: only about 60 men carry it, so most Poles have never met a Leif. Germanic at root, it means "descendant, heir".
Leif Pronunciation
Leif is pronounced LE-eef (/ˈlɛif/).
What Leif means
Where Leif comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Leif comes from Old Norse Leifr, a Germanic name built on the sense of heir, the one who remains after others have gone. The short meaning stays close to that root: descendant, heir. The same Germanic root gives English the verb to leave, so a Leif is, quite literally, the one left to carry the line on.
The most documented bearer sailed west. Leif Erikson reached the coast of North America around the year 1000, five centuries before Columbus. His name traveled with the sagas and stayed Scandinavian in feel, common in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, where boys still answer to it at school.
Leif takes no diminutives and no variants. It stands as it is. On a Polish class register the single syllable looks foreign among the Kacpers and Szymons, and a teacher may pause before the L. The meaning holds under the pause: potomek, an heir who carries the name forward.
How many people are named Leif
1 in 349938 men in Poland is named Leif. 61 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #4711 among male names.
Leif's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 boys were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Leif as a middle name
Leif is a first name for 61 men in Poland and a middle name for another 16, a 79/21 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 2326th, between Kishore (16) and Lenart (16).
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#2324 Kenny16
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#2325 Kishore16
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#2326 Leif16
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#2327 Lenart16
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#2328 Leroy16