Leya
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Turkish or Arabic. Borrowed from Turkish Leya and Arabic لَيْيَا (layyā).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Leya (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, Leya 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 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 9 |
| 2005 | – |
| 2006 | 11 |
| 2007 | 8 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2010 | 10 |
| 2011 | 8 |
| 2012 | 21 |
| 2013 | 19 |
| 2014 | 6 |
| 2015 | 17 |
| 2016 | 26 |
| 2017 | 22 |
| 2018 | 18 |
| 2019 | 16 |
| 2020 | 20 |
| 2021 | 38 |
| 2022 | 41 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | 11 |
| 2003 | 14 |
| 2004 | 23 |
| 2005 | 25 |
| 2006 | 35 |
| 2007 | 45 |
| 2008 | 51 |
| 2009 | 58 |
| 2010 | 68 |
| 2011 | 77 |
| 2012 | 98 |
| 2013 | 120 |
| 2014 | 127 |
| 2015 | 148 |
| 2016 | 175 |
| 2017 | 201 |
| 2018 | 219 |
| 2019 | 234 |
| 2020 | 254 |
Leya in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Leya.Hi! My name is Leya.
- Har du träffat Leya? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Leya? She started working here on Monday.
- Leya har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Leya has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Leyas mamma är lärare.Leya's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Leyas mamma is Leya's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Leya
How do you pronounce Leya in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Leya in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Leya mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Turkish or Arabic. Borrowed from Turkish Leya and Arabic لَيْيَا (layyā).
How popular is Leya in Sweden?
41 babies were named Leya in 2022. In 2020, 254 people in Sweden had Leya 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.