NameCensus.

UK girl's name

Leiah

A feminine name potentially derived from Hebrew "Le-Yah" meaning "for Jehovah".

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2020. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Leiah is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Leiah popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2020 in this profile. In that release it ranked #5493, with 3 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2011, with 6 births.

This profile covers 59 England and Wales registrations across 15 recorded years from 1997 to 2020. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 50% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 62 living people in the UK are called Leiah. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2021 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Leiah ranked #5493 for girls in England and Wales in 2020, with 3 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2011, when 6 girls were registered as Leiah.
  • Leiah ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #810 in 2011.
  • About 62 living people in the UK are estimated to have Leiah as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#5493

2020

Births in 2020

3

Latest year

Peak year

2011

6 births

Estimated living

62

2026

Meaning

What does Leiah mean?

The name Leiah is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Leah, which means "weary" or "tired". It has its roots in ancient Semitic languages, with similar spellings found in Aramaic and Arabic.

The name Leah first appears in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, where she is described as the first wife of the patriarch Jacob. Leah was the mother of six of Jacob's sons, including Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, who became the progenitors of six of the twelve tribes of Israel.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Leiah was Leiah bat Mordecai, a Jewish scholar who lived in the 12th century in Normandy, France. She is known for her work in biblical exegesis and her contributions to the study of the Talmud.

In the 15th century, Leiah Benveniste was a prominent Jewish philosopher and mathematician from Aragon, Spain. She was known for her work in astronomy and her commentary on the writings of Maimonides.

During the Renaissance period, Leiah Ghiberti was an Italian sculptor and goldsmith born in 1378 in Florence, Italy. She is best known for her work on the famous bronze doors of the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, which took her over 20 years to complete.

In the 19th century, Leiah Josephine Woodworth was an American poet and writer born in 1837 in Urbana, Ohio. She is known for her poem "The Old Oaken Bucket", which became a popular song in the United States.

Another notable figure with the name Leiah was Leiah Rachel Varnhagen, a German writer and salonnière born in 1785 in Berlin. She hosted one of the most influential literary salons in Berlin during the early 19th century, where many prominent writers and intellectuals gathered.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Leiah over time

The chart below shows babies named Leiah registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1997 to 2020. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Leiah, the clearest high point is 2011. The latest England and Wales figure is 3 births in 2020, compared with 6 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Leiah
02356199720082020

Decades

Leiah by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Leiah was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #5493 3 1
2010s #5333 18 5
2000s #3855 33 8
1990s #2738 5 1

Geography

Where Leiah is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Leiah. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Leiah ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #810 in 2011.

Scotland
3

Across the UK

Leiah in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#810 in 2011

1 years of NRS records, 3 total registered

Related

Names similar to Leiah

FAQ

Leiah: questions and answers

How popular is the name Leiah in the UK right now?

In 2020, Leiah was ranked #5493 for girls in England and Wales, with 3 births registered.

When was Leiah most popular?

The peak year on record was 2011, with 6 babies registered as Leiah in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Leiah?

A feminine name potentially derived from Hebrew "Le-Yah" meaning "for Jehovah".

How many people are called Leiah in the UK?

A total of 59 babies have been registered as Leiah across the 15 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 3 more in Scotland.

Where is Leiah most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Leiah ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #810 in 2011. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.