Leah
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Hebrew. From Hebrew לֵאָה (Le'a).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Leah (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Leah has been rising over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2022. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | 12 |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | 30 |
| 2003 | 26 |
| 2004 | 32 |
| 2005 | 74 |
| 2006 | 84 |
| 2007 | 82 |
| 2008 | 112 |
| 2009 | 109 |
| 2010 | 158 |
| 2011 | 169 |
| 2012 | 169 |
| 2013 | 181 |
| 2014 | 190 |
| 2015 | 228 |
| 2016 | 243 |
| 2017 | 288 |
| 2018 | 226 |
| 2019 | 255 |
| 2020 | 304 |
| 2021 | 342 |
| 2022 | 346 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 38 |
| 2000 | 51 |
| 2001 | 63 |
| 2002 | 95 |
| 2003 | 123 |
| 2004 | 156 |
| 2005 | 233 |
| 2006 | 316 |
| 2007 | 403 |
| 2008 | 528 |
| 2009 | 636 |
| 2010 | 808 |
| 2011 | 980 |
| 2012 | 1,154 |
| 2013 | 1,341 |
| 2014 | 1,554 |
| 2015 | 1,795 |
| 2016 | 2,048 |
| 2017 | 2,351 |
| 2018 | 2,581 |
| 2019 | 2,856 |
| 2020 | 3,160 |
Leah in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Leah.Hi! My name is Leah.
- Leah bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Leah lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Jag ska fika med Leah i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Leah this afternoon.
- Leahs mamma är lärare.Leah's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Leahs mamma is Leah's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Leah
How do you pronounce Leah in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Leah in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Leah mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Hebrew. From Hebrew לֵאָה (Le'a).
How popular is Leah in Sweden?
346 babies were named Leah in 2022. In 2020, 3,160 people in Sweden had Leah as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been rising lately and peaked in 2022 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.