# Leo (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 8,039 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,423 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 38,406 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.3% (7,638 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈliːoʊ/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Latin leō (“lion”), calque of Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), calque of Akkadian 𒉈𒍑 (nēšu)/Akkadian 𒌨𒄞𒆷 (urgulû), from Sumerian 𒌨𒄞𒆷 (UR.GU.LA, “lion; name of constellation”). Doublet of Leon, leu, lev, lion, and Lyon.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Leo 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) | 75% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 4.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 7.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 9.2% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Leo in the United States and India.

## People named Leo

- Melissa Leo, American actress
- Murugashankari Leo, Bharatanatyam exponent, Theater actor, Research Scholar
- Ted Leo, American singer and guitarist

## Similar surnames

Lee, Le, Lea, Lew, Lei, Ley, Leu, Loew, Leh, Li, Lowe, Liu.

## 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.