Leif is a boy's name of Scandinavian origin meaning “heir.” In 2024 it was given to 250 boys in the United States.
Leif belongs to the Scandinavian tradition. Its meaning — “heir” — is the sense carried by its Scandinavian roots, and it is the meaning we verified against published sources for this page.
In the United States, Leif first appears in Social Security records in 1912. It climbed to its best-ever rank of #638 in 1979, and in 2024 250 babies received the name — 9,737 in total since 1880. Those are the official counts, not estimates.
More names from the Scandinavian shelf:
Leif means “heir” in its Scandinavian roots. We check every meaning against published sources before it appears here.
Leif is a boy name. In 2024, 250 babies received the name in the US.
Leif comes from the Scandinavian tradition.
Leif first appears in US records in 1912. Its best-ever ranking was #638 in 1979, and 250 babies were given the name in 2024.
Leif is pronounced /lai̯f/ (IPA).
Meaning and origin for this page were checked against this source. US popularity figures are from the Social Security Administration's public baby-names data. If you spot an error, write to [email protected] — accuracy is the whole point of this site, and corrections are made fast.
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