ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1915 First Year 1915 Last Year 1915 Peak Year #3795 Peak Rank 6 Total Count 1 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Leno What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. James Douglas Muir Leno is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, Leno was chosen in 1992 to replace Johnny Carson as the host of NBC's The Tonight Show; Leno hosted The Tonight Show until September 2009 when Conan O'Brien took over as host and Leno started a primetime talk show, The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay%5FLeno) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay%5FLeno) [![Wikipedia thumbnail for Leno](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/Jay_Leno_2019_crop.jpg/330px-Jay_Leno_2019_crop.jpg?utm_source=en.wikipedia.org&utm_campaign=api&utm_content=thumbnail)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay%5FLeno) 📖 ## The Story of Leno American parents first put Leno on the record books as a baby boy name in 1909, with 6 registered babies. Its peak popularity came in 1921, when 29 Lenos were born — ranking #1,390 that year. The 1920s were its strongest decade, accounting for roughly 29% of all recorded Lenos. Its most recent appearance in the national data came in 2024 (5 births); the name has since faded from the published rankings. In total, more than 651 Lenos have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1900s through the 2020s. ## Popularity Over Time ## Popularity by State ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data 🎶 ## Names that sound like Leno Phonetically similar names — useful when Leno is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * [Lenny](/lenny) * [Lennie](/lennie) * [Lino](/lino) * [Leonie](/leonie) * Lano * [Leny](/leny) * [Lenna](/lenna) * Llano * Lemmo * [Lono](/lono) * Lno * Luno Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Leno What does the name Leno mean? James Douglas Muir Leno is an American television host, comedian, and writer. After doing stand-up comedy for years, Leno was chosen in 1992 to replace Johnny Carson as the host of NBC's The Tonight Show; Leno hosted The Tonight Show until September 2009 when Conan O'Brien took over as host and Leno started a primetime talk show, The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. How popular is Leno in 2026? In 2026, Leno ranks #12,301 among boys' names in the U.S., with 5 babies given the name that year. When was Leno most popular? Leno reached its peak popularity in 1921, ranking #1,390 that year with 29 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Leno most popular? Leno has historically been most popular in Pennsylvania, California, Michigan. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Leno. Is Leno a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Leno is primarily a boy's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a girl's name. What names go well with Leno? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Leno include Eustace, Clearance, Sylvio. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. ## Similar Names [👧PrudaPeak #3795](/pruda)[👧ZaniePeak #3795](/zanie)[👧WillmettaPeak #3795](/willmetta)[👧CleodaPeak #3795](/cleoda)[👧VodaPeak #3795](/voda)[👧ConjettaPeak #3795](/conjetta)[👧NervaPeak #3795](/nerva)[👧ZorkaPeak #3795](/zorka) ## About the name Leno Leno is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1909 and has accumulated 651 births in the dataset. Leno's peak popularity came in 1921 when it ranked #1,390\. Use the chart and map above to compare Leno's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 1921 → ](/year/1921) * [ Names of the 1920s → ](/decade/1920s) * [ Names starting with "L" → ](/letter/l) * [ Browse all boy names → ](/names/boys) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships. * Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — [Behind the Name ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.