Name of the Week: Leonard

Origin:

Leonard is the Anglicised form of the Old Germanic name Leonhard composed of the elements lewo  "lion" and hard "hardy, brave, bold." Leonardus and Leonardo served as Latin forms of the name, with the latter becoming the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of the name also.

Usage:

Leonard was brought to Britain by the Normans and established itself thanks to the veneration of the saint Leonard of Noblac (d. 559). Saint Leonard was a Frankish nobleman in the court of King Clovis I, and together the two converted to Christianity. Leonard asked for the right to liberate any prisoners who he deemed worthy of their freedom. He freed many and gave them honest work clearing forests on his vast estates where he established an abbey.  Saint Leonard's cult spread rapidly in the 12th century and he became one of the most venerated saints of the late Middle Ages. In England, no fewer than 177 churches were dedicated to him, and he was also venerated in Scotland.  We can find records for Leonard starting from the 12th century, such as Leonardus de Berhedon in the 1219 Curia Regis Rolls of Rutland and Leonardus Skeler in the 1379 Poll Tax of Sussex. During this time, the surname Leonard was also established, as seen with Stephanus Leonardus in the Assize Court Rolls of Worcestershire in 1221 and William and Agnes Leonard in the Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire, in 1272. Overall, however, Leonard can only be found in small numbers at this early stage. It does not appear at all in George Redmonds analysis of 1000 names from 10 English counties in 1377-81, for example, which is curious given the popular veneration of the saint.  As Reaney and Wilson put it in the Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames the name was "not so common in England as one would have expected in view of the number of churches dedicated to St Leonard." By the 16th century, however, Leonard saw increased use, as we can see from Smith Bannister's rank of top 50 names from 1538 to 1700 in England: 1538-49: #24.5; 1550-9: #44.5; 1560-9: #30.5; 1570-9: #21.5; 1580-9: #30; 1590-9: #50; 1600-9: #28; 1610-9: #41.5; 1620-9: --; 1630-9: #35.5; 1640-9: --; 1650-9: #41; 1660-9: --; 1670-9: --; 1680-9: #49; 1690-1700: --.  In Europe, variants of Leonard were in similar use including Léonard in France and Leonardo in Spain and Italy in particular.  Leonard became less common in Britain in the 18th century, but by the mid-19th century, it was on a popular revival.  The diminutive form, Lenny, can also be found in records dating to the 16th century.** Curiously, Lenny was also used for girls in small numbers as well as for boys in the 19th century. In 1892, for example, there are birth records for both a 'Lenny Beatrice' and a 'Lenny Charles'.  This was perhaps inspired by Leonora or Helen/a.  Rankings of registration records for Leonard as a first name in the England and Wales Birth Index: 1840: 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900:  1904: 1914: 1924: 1934: 1944: 1954: 1964: 1974: 1984: 1994: #81 #79 #58 #49 #32 #29 #24 #22 #20 #25 #37 #59 #76 — — — — click to enlarge By 1996, Leonard ranked at fairly respectable #472 (39 births) in England and Wales. It saw very gradual rise to #431 (52 births) in 2002 and #401 (93 births) in 2008. Since 2011, however, it has seen a more marked increase, reaching #247 with 216 births in 2017.  The familiar short-form Lenny has seen an even steeper rise. Back in 1996, it ranked #1765 (6 births) in England and Wales, but had reached the top 500 by 2003 (#469 - 52 births). By 2013, that number had almost quadrupled, ranking #248 with 201 births.  In 2017, Lenny ranked #158 with 360 births in England and Wales. The spelling Lennie has also seen a steep rise during the same period, jumping from #2357 (4 births) in 1996 to #462 (89 births) in 2017.  The Italian and Spanish variant, Leonardo, has also seen an even more marked rise than Leonard itself. From ranking #1458 (8 births) in 1996, it jumped massively to #378 (60 births) in 1998 -- the year following the release of the film Titanic (1997) which catapulted Leonardo DiCaprio to stardom.  The name settled in use for a few years after but has been on a steep rise ever since 2003, ranking #136 (433 births) in 2017.  Much of Leonardo's success is in London, where it has ranked in the top 100 since 2014. In 2017, Leonardo ranked #62 in London alone. However, when London is removed from the England-whole data, it ranks at #159 (277 births) for the rest of the country.  In Scotland, Leonard fell below the top 200 from 1977 and, despite a brief spark at #156 (14 births) in 1985, remained below the top 200 with fewer than 6 births until 2014. It has since peaked at #315 (12 births) in 2016, but fell to #433 with 7 births by 2018.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Saint Leonard (d.559), patron saint of prisoners, captives and horses.  * Leonardo Fibonacci (c. 1170 – c. 1250), Italian mathematician. * Leonardo Bruni (c. 1370–1444), humanist, historian and chancellor of Florence. * Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian Renaissance scientist, inventor, engineer, sculptor, and painter. * Leonard of Chios (d. 1458), Catholic archbishop. * Leonhard Fuchs (1501–1566), German physician and natural historian. * Saint Leonard of Port Maurice (1676–1751), Italian saint. * Leonhard Euler (1707–1783), Swiss mathematician. * Leonard Labatt (1838–1897), Swedish tenor. * Leonard Woolley (1880–1960), British archaeologist. * Leonard Cheshire (1917-1992), British philanthropist. * Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990), American conductor and composer. Contemporary: * Leonard Stone (1923–2011), American actor. * Leonard Rosenman (1924–2008), American composer. * Leonard Nimoy (1931–2015), American actor and film director. * Leonard Cohen (1934–2016), Canadian singer-songwriter. * Leonard Adleman (born 1945), American computer scientist. * Leonard "Lenny" Kravitz (born 1964), American singer and songwriter. * Leonard Doroftei (born 1970), Romanian boxer. * Leonard Humphries (born 1970), American football player. * Leonardo DiCaprio (born 1974), Academy-award winner American actor. Literature and Other Media: * Leonard McCoy, character in the Star Trek series. * Leonard Hofstadter, character in The Big Bang Theory. * Leonard of Quirm, character in the Discworld novels.

Variants:

Leonhard (German), Léonard (French), Lennart (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch), Leonardo (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese)

Pronunciation:

LEN-ərd [key]

Possible diminutives:

Len, Lenny, Leo, Leon, Ned

Sibling Names:

Esther     Mabel     Georgina     Jemima     Audrey     Josephine Vincent     Sidney     Ernest     Reginald     Chester     Robin

Name Lists:

Victorian Darlings

 

If you like Leonard you may also like:   Francis, Edwin, Jonathan, Ronald, Lawrence, Franklin, Patrick, Timothy, Edison, Douglas

Thanks to Marie for requesting this name.