Leon (given name)

Leon (Ancient Greek: λέων, romanized: léon; leōn) is a first name of Greek origin, meaning "lion". It gave rise to similar names in other languages, including the Latin Leo, French Lyon or Léon, Irish Leon, Spanish León, Armenian Levon / Լևոն or Georgian Levan / ლევან.

In Greek mythology, Leon was a giant killed by Heracles. One of the oldest attested historical figures to bear this name was Leon of Sparta, a 6th-century BCE king of Sparta. During the Christian era, the name Leon was merged with the Latin cognate Leo, with the result that the two forms are used interchangeably.^[1]

A similar Greek name, Leonidas, means "son of a lion". Leonidas I, king of Sparta, was a famous bearer of that name.

The Ancient Greek word λέων ultimately comes from Proto-Semitic *labiʾ-, which is not Indo-European.

People

Leon (English, German, Dutch, Russian version), Léon (French version), León (Spanish version) may refer to:

• Leon (mathematician) (fl. 400 BC), Greek mathematician, precursor of Euclid
• Leon of Modena (1571–1648), Venetian scholar
• Leon of Pella, Macedonian historian
• Leon of Phlius (fl. c. 620 BC), tyrant of his city
• Leon of Salamis (died 406 or 403 BC), Athenian politician and naval commander
• Leon of Sparta, Spartan king
• León Aillaud (1880–1936), Mexican politician
• Leon Ashley (1936–2013), American country music singer and songwriter
• Leon Askin (1907-2005), Austrian actor
• Leon Bailey (born 1997), Jamaican footballer
• Léon Bakst (1866–1924), Russian painter and scene- and costume designer
• Leon Bates (labor leader) (1899–1972), American union leader
• Leon Belasco (1902–1988), Russian-American musician and actor
• Leon Benois (1856–1928), Russian architect
• Leon Berkowitz (1911–1987), American abstract painter
• Leon Berry (1914–1996), American organist
• Leon Best (born 1986), Irish football player
• Léon Bloy (1846–1917), French writer
• Léon Blum (1872–1950), French politician and prime minister
• Léon Boëllmann (1862–1897), French composer
• Leon Bourgeois (1851–1925), French politician and prime minister
• Léon Breitling (1860–1914), Swiss watchmaker and businessman, founder of Breitling SA
• Leon Brittan (1939–2015), British politician
• Leon Burns (1942–1984), American football player
• Leon Cadore (1891–1958), American baseball player
• Leon Camier (born 1986), British motorcycle racer
• Léon Chagnaud (1866–1930), French businessman and politician.
• Leon Chua, a Chinese-American scientist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley
• Leon Cooper (1930–2024), American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
• Leon Cooperman (born 1943) American billionaire investor, hedge fund manager
• Leon Czolgosz (1873–1901), American anarchist, assassin of William McKinley
• Leon Dănăilă (born 1933), Romanian neurosurgeon
• Léon Deffontaines (born 1996), French politician
• Léon Dierx (1838–1912), French poet
• Léon Dion (1922–1997), Canadian political scientist
• Leon Draisaitl (born 1995), German ice hockey player
• León Duarte (1928-1976), Uruguayan trade unionist and anarchist
• Leon Durham (born 1957), American baseball player
• Leon Edel (1907–1997), American writer and literary critic
• Leon Edney (born 1935), American admiral
• Leon Edwards (born 1991), UFC Fighter
• Léon Arthur Elchinger (1908–1998), French Catholic archbishop
• León Febres Cordero (1931–2008), Ecuadorian politician and president
• Leon Feldhendler (1910–1945), Polish Jewish resistance fighter
• León Felipe (1884–1968), Spanish poet
• Leon Fleisher (1928–2020), American pianist and conductor
• Léon Foucault (1819–1868), French physicist
• Leon Friedman (legal scholar) (born 1933), American legal scholar
• Leon Friedman (politician) (1886 – 1948), American politician
• Léon Gambetta (1838–1882), French politician and Prime Minister
• Leon Garfield (1921–1996), British author
• Léon Gaumont (1864–1946), French inventor and industrialist
• Léon Gérin (1863–1951), Canadian lawyer
• León Gieco (born 1951), Argentinian musician and interpreter
• Leon Goldensohn (1911–1961), American psychiatrist and author of The Nuremberg Interviews
• Leon M. Goldstein (died 1999), American president of Kingsborough Community College and acting chancellor of the City University of New York
• Léon Goossens (1897–1988), British oboist
• Leon Goretzka (born 1995), German professional footballer
• Léon Guérin (1807-1885), French author, poet, and naval historian
• Leon Harrison (1866–1928), English-American rabbi
• Leon Haslam (born 1983), British motorcycle racer
• Leon Hatziioannou (born 1965), Canadian football player
• León Herrera Esteban (1922–2003), Spanish military officer and politician
• Leon Jackson (born 1988), Scottish singer
• Leon Quincy Jackson (1926/1927–1995), American architect and professor
• Leon Jacobs (born 1995), American football player
• Leon James (footballer) (born 2001), Thai footballer
• Leon Jaworski (1905–1982), American lawyer
• Leon Johnson (disambiguation), multiple people
• Leon M. Keer (1934–2021), American engineer
• Leon S. Kennedy (character), protagonist of horror video game series Resident Evil
• León Klimovsky (1906–1996), Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer
• Leon Klinghoffer (1916–1985), a Jewish-American man who was murdered
• Leon Koudelak (born 1961), Czech guitarist
• Léon Krier (1946–2025), Luxembourgish architect, architectural theorist, urban planner, and author
• Leon Lai (born 1966), Hong Kong actor and singer
• Leon Lederman (1922–2018), American physicist and Nobel Prize winner
• Leon Leyson (1929–2013), Polish-American Holocaust survivor and author
• Léon Augustin Lhermitte (1844–1925), French painter and etcher
• Leon Lundy, Bahamian politician
• Léon Marchand (born 2002), French swimmer
• Leon Marchlewski (1869–1946), Polish chemist
• Leon McKenzie (born 1978), British football player
• Leon McQuay III (born 1994), American football player
• Leon P. Miller (1899–1980), American lawyer, politician, and judge
• Leon Milo (1956–2014), American musician
• Leon Monde (1895-1931), American basketball player
• Leon Moser (1942–1995), American murderer
• Léon Motchane (1900–1990), French industrialist and mathematician. Founder of the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in Bures-sur-Yvette
• Leon O'Neal Jr. (born 1998), American football player
• Leon Orr (born 1992), American football player
• Leon Panetta (born 1938), American politician
• Leon Pescheret (1892–1971), British-American designer, watercolorist, etcher, and illustrator.
• Léon Pétillon (1903–1996), Belgian politician
• Léon Abel Provancher (1820–1892), Canadian priest and naturalist
• Leon Punch (1928–1991), Australian politician
• Leon Radosevic (born 1990), Croatian basketball player
• Leon Redbone (1949–2019), American singer and songwriter
• Leon Robinson (born 1962), American actor and singer
• Leon Rotman (born 1934), Romanian canoer
• Leon Russell (1942–2016), American singer and songwriter
• Léon Say (1826–1896), French economist and politician
• Leon Schiller (1887–1954), Polish director and composer
• Leon Schlesinger (1884–1949), American film producer
• Noël Regney, born Léon Schlienger (1922–2002), French songwriter
• Leon Schuster (born 1951), South African filmmaker, actor and musician
• Leon Shamroy (1901–1974), American film cinematographer
• Leon Simon (Zionist) (1881–1965), British intellectual and civil servant; president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Leon Sperling (1900–1941), Polish footballer
• Léon Spilliaert (1881–1946), Belgian painter
• Leon Spinks (1953–2021), American boxer
• Leon Sullivan (1922–2001), American civil rights leader
• Leon Sylvers III (born 1953), American singer, songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist
• Leon Taylor (born 1977), British swimmer
• Léon Teisserenc de Bort (1855–1913), French meteorologist
• Léon Theremin (1896–1993), Russian inventor
• Leon Thijssen (born 1968), Dutch show jumper
• Leon Thomas III (born 1993), American actor
• Leon Topalian, American businessman, CEO of Nucor
• Leon Trotsky (1879–1940), Russian revolutionary and politician
• Leon Underwood (1890–1975), British sculptor, painter and writer
• Leon Uris (1924–2003), American novelist
• Leon Vance (1916–1944), American aviators
• Leon V of Armenia (1342–1393), King of Armenia
• Léon Vaudoyer (1803–1872), French architect
• Léon Walras (1834–1910), French economist
• Leon Ware (1940–2017), American singer, songwriter and producer
• Leon White (1955–2018), American professional wrestler, better known as Big Van Vader
• Leon Wilkeson (1952–2001), American bassist, member of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Leon Norman Williams (1914–1999), British barrister and philatelic writer
• León Zuleta (1952–1993), Colombian LGBT activist and writer

Fictional characters

• Leon S. Kennedy, a character from the Resident Evil franchise
• Leon, a character in the mobile video game, Brawl Stars and Squad Busters
• Leon B. Little, a character from the 1986 American action comedy film Tough Guys, played by Eli Wallach

See also

• Leo (given name)
• Levon (name)