Hi Jennifer! We have 3 boys and just found out we are having a baby girl. We had picked Leo as a boy’s name and fell in love with it. My grandmother’s middle name was Leona, so Leo was a throwback to her; however, we do not like the name Leona. We also don’t really care for any of the other girls names that have Leo in it. I wasn’t able to find just “Leo” for a girls name; though I did find on another site that Leo was used in the early 1900’s for a girl’s name? Can Leo be used as a girl’s name? Is there any trend to it anywhere?
Thanks in advance!
Jenny
Dear Jenny,
I do not have any background on Leo being a girl’s name. That being said, any name can have any gender. Many names, recently, have crossed over from the boys’ list to the girls’ side. There are many girls named Michael, for example.
Personally, I wouldn’t use it. I feel it sounds very masculine and my association with the name is male lions and Leonardo Di Caprio. Have you considered similar names like Leah, Layla, Leia?
My recommendation would be to keep name-storming, but if you both really love it, go for it.
Sincerely,
Jennifer
Jennifer Moss (she/her) is the founder of BabyNames.com, author of The Baby Names Workbook, and Producer of The Baby Names Podcast. Jennifer is widely regarded as the leading expert on popular baby name trends and the naming process, serving as the authoritative source on the subject for national and international media.
Jennifer entered the tech arena in the 80s as a software developer and database architect, and became a pioneer in the Internet industry. In addition to operating BabyNames.com, Jennifer owns a web development agency in central California.
