Leif vs Leita
American parents have registered 10,002 Leifs since 1880, against 720 Leitas. Leif is still ahead, with 257 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Leif Leita
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 128 years in which either name was published, Leif for 99 years and Leita for 29 years. The lead changed hands 13 times.
- 1893–1912 Leita ahead
- 1913–1915 Leif ahead
- 1923–1936 Leita ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1937–2025 Leif ahead
9 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Leif | Leita | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 10,002 | 720 |
| Most in one year | 290 | 20 |
| Babies in 2025 | 257 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 9,000 | 260 |
| Median age today | 23 | 69 |
| Peak year | 2022 | 1916 |
| Best rank | 841st boys | 1,739th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 917th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1912 | 1893 |
| Girls / boys | 5 / 9,997 | 720 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Leitas alive today are over 69; half the Leifs are over 23. That is 46 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Leif and Leita.