Leah

Leah meaning

Leah is a Christian and international girl's name of Hebrew origin.

Meaning today

Delicate

Leah comes from the Hebrew Leʾah (לֵאָה). Strong's concordance and the NAS concordance both derive it from laʾah, 'to be weary', and gloss it 'weary'. Brown-Driver-Briggs tentatively proposes 'wild cow' instead, comparing her sister Rachel, whose name means 'ewe', and records other suggestions it treats as doubtful, so the origin is not settled. Name lists usually give 'delicate'; we could not find that sense in these Hebrew references, so it appears to be a later reading of the name. In Genesis Leah is the elder daughter of Laban and Jacob's first wife, and her sons include Levi and Judah. In India the name is used mainly in Christian families.

References: Strong's Hebrew 3812, Le'ah (with NAS and Brown-Driver-Briggs) · Genesis 29 (KJV)

Famous namesakes

• Leah, wife of Jacob and mother of Levi and Judah, in Genesis

Popularity abroad

• #58 United States, girls 2025 (down 5 from 53 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #183 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Leah · Lea

Related names

More names of Hebrew origin

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