Girl Names baby nameLeah

What does the name Leah mean?

The different meanings of the name Leah are:
  • American meaning: Tired or weary
  • Celtic - Gaelic meaning: The light of the sun
  • Hebrew meaning: Tired or weary
  • Irish meaning: The light of the sun
  • Assyrian meaning: Mistress, ruler
  • Greek meaning: Glad tidings
The meaning of the name “Leah” is different in several languages, countries and cultures and has more than one possibly same or different meanings available.

Additional information: Leah is a name of Hebrew origins from Biblical times. It has the meaning of “wearied” or “grieved”. Many speculate that this meaning has to do with the circumstance of the most commonly know woman named Leah in the Old Testament. She was the first wife of Jacob and the older sister of Rachel, but because he was tricked into marrying her she was unloved her whole life despite the fact that she gave birth to 7 sons and a daughter for him. Leah was called one of the four arch-mothers of the country of Israel.

Few variations of the name Leah are commonly used. In Italian it is spelled as Lia, and in other European countries it can be spelled as Lea. Some common diminutives of the name include Lee-lee or Lee. The English name Leah can be commonly misspelled as Lea or Leya.

Since 1880, the name Leah has never been outside of the top 500 baby girl name in the US. Its peak usage in the US was reached in 2010 when the name was ranked as the 24th most popular name for baby girls. Elsewhere it became a more popular name within the late 1990s and early 2000s. In the UK it was a top 50 name from 1996 until 2011, in Ireland it was a top 25 name from 2002 until 2014, and in Norway it was a top 100 name from 2003 through 2014. In 2014 the name ranked at 35th most popular in the US, 78th most popular in the UK, 27th most popular in Ireland, and 19th most popular in Norway.

Celebrities who share the name Leah include Leah Jenner, a pop singer; Leah Bateman, an actress; Leah Keiser, a figure skater; Leah Poulton, a cricket player; and Leah Rabin, wife to the former prime minister of Israel.

Leah is the name of a female wolf in the Stephenie Meyer Twilight series. Leah Bellefleur is a main character in Joyce Carol Oates gothic novel "Bellefluer".