# Leaf (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/leaf/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,111 |
| US rank (2010) | 10,358 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 99,243 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.4% (3,038 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Life |

## Etymology

From the Old English personal names Lēofa and Lēofe, both from lēof (“dear, beloved”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Leaf in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 86% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 2.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 4.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Leaf in Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States.

## People named Leaf

- T. J. Leaf, American-Israeli basketball player
- Richard Leaf, British actor
- Ryan Leaf, American football player (born 1976)

## Similar surnames

Leff, Leavy, Levay, Leap, Love, Levy, Leyva, Libby, Lavoie, Leiva, Levi, Lapp.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.