How Many People Are Named Lea?
An estimated 28,333 people in the United States have the first name Lea. It is predominantly female (98.2%). The average bearer is 38 years old, and Lea peaked in popularity in 1970 with 600 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Lea as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Lea paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Lea is overwhelmingly female, 620 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
28,333
About 1 in 12,097 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
98.2% confidence
Average Age
38
years old
Peak Year
1970
600 births
Total Registered
34,140
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Lea
Lea is predominantly female (98.2%), though 620 male births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Lea as a male name
Ranked #8,683 in 1989
5 male births in 1989
Peak: 1925 (21 births)
Lea as a female name
Ranked #834 in 2024
324 female births in 2024
Peak: 1970 (593 births)
Lea: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Lea span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 4,554 babies were registered. While Lea is less common than at its peak in the 1960s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Lea by Decade
How has Lea tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 104 | 0 | 104 | |
| 1890s | 208 | 22 | 186 | |
| 1900s | 247 | 13 | 234 | |
| 1910s | 673 | 83 | 590 | |
| 1920s | 804 | 141 | 663 | |
| 1930s | 752 | 81 | 671 | |
| 1940s | 1,173 | 74 | 1,099 | |
| 1950s | 2,950 | 61 | 2,889 | |
| 1960s | 4,554 | 61 | 4,493 | |
| 1970s | 4,495 | 42 | 4,453 | |
| 1980s | 3,986 | 42 | 3,944 | |
| 1990s | 3,830 | 0 | 3,830 | |
| 2000s | 4,250 | 0 | 4,250 | |
| 2010s | 4,340 | 0 | 4,340 | |
| 2020s | 1,774 | 0 | 1,774 | |
Lea by State
Birth registrations for Lea span all 47 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Texas. The lowest are in Idaho, New Hampshire, Maine. On average, about 584 Leas were registered per state.
Lea + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Lea as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Lea
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
Lea: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lea?
We estimate approximately 28,333 people named Lea are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 12,097 Americans share this first name.
Is Lea a common name?
Lea is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 34,140 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Lea most popular?
Lea reached peak popularity in 1970, when 600 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Lea is approximately 38 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Lea a female name?
Lea is predominantly female. 98.2% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Lea Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Lea Smith, Lea Johnson, Lea Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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