Leon

See also: leon, león, leòn, León, and Léon

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): (most senses) /ˈli.ɑn/, (New York town) /ˈliːən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈliː.ɒn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɑn, -iːɒn
• Hyphenation: Le‧on

Etymology 1

Ultimately from Latin Leo and leo (“lion”), from Ancient Greek Λέων (Léōn) and λέων (léōn, “lion”), likely ultimately from a non-Indo-European language. Sometimes via other related languages such as French Léon and sometimes as a diminutive of related names such as Leonard and Leonardo.

Proper noun

Leon

1. A male given name from Latin or Ancient Greek.
2. A surname from Latin.

Derived terms

• Leona

 

Related terms

• Leo
• Leonard
• Leonardo
• Lionel

 

Etymology 2

From Spanish León, from Latin legiō (“legion”), named for the Legio VII Gemina, which settled there. In reference to the New York town and Texan river, taken from the former Spanish kingdom. The Texan lake is named for the river. The Floridian county is named for the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. The Texan county is named for Martin de Leon, founder of Victoria, Texas. The town in Monroe Co., Wisconsin, was named for the Mexican city. The Iowan town was changed to honor the "Fighting Doctor" of the Mexican–American War David Camden de Leon after it was discovered that Iowa already had a city named Independence. The Kansan town was named for the one in Iowa. Doublet of legion via Old French. The California town was named for the nearby Leon Mine.

Proper noun

Leon

1. A city in northwestern Spain, the former capital of the Kingdom of Leon.
2. (historical) A former polity in the Iberian Peninsula, a kingdom with the city as its capital.
3. A province of Castile and León, Spain around the city.
4. A historical region in Spain around the province.
5. A surname from Spanish.
6. A department of Nicaragua.
7. Short for Leon County, a county in Florida around the state capital Tallahassee.
8. Short for Leon County, a county in Texas around Centerville.
9. A city in Guanajuato, Mexico.
10. A city, the county seat of Decatur County, Iowa, United States.
11. A city in Butler County, Kansas, United States.
12. A town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States.
13. A town in Love County, Oklahoma, United States.
14. A town in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States.
15. A town in Waushara County, Wisconsin, United States.
16. A river in Texas, United States.
17. A lake in Texas, United States.
18. (historical) A former town in San Diego County, California, United States.

Alternative forms

• (places in Spain and Latin America): León

Derived terms

• Leon County

 

Related terms

• de Leon
• New Leon
• Nuevo Leon

 

Translations

city in Spain

• Catalan: Lleó (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 萊昂 / 莱昂

• Greek:

  Modern: Λεόν (el) (León)

• Japanese: レオン
• Korean: 레온 (re'on)
• Latin: Legio
• Latvian: Leona
• Lithuanian: Leonas (lt) m
• Marathi: लेओन n (leon)
• Ottoman Turkish: لیون (Liyon)
• Portuguese: Leão (pt)
• Russian: Лео́н (ru) (León)
• Spanish: León (es)
• Ukrainian: Лео́н (León)

region in northwest Spain

• Arabic: لِيُون f (Liyon), (archaic) لِيُونَة f (Liyona)
• Asturian: Llión
• Catalan: Lleó (ca)
• Extremaduran: Lión
• Greek: Λεώνη (el) f (Leóni)
• Japanese: レオン
• Leonese: Llión
• Lithuanian: Leonas (lt) m
• Marathi: लेओन m (leon)
• Portuguese: Leão (pt)
• Russian: Лео́н (ru) m (León)
• Spanish: León (es)

department of Nicaragua

• Extremaduran: Lión
• Lithuanian: Leonas (lt) m
• Marathi: लेओन m (leon)
• Spanish: León (es)

Etymology 3

From Breton Leon and French Léon.

Proper noun

Leon

1. (historical) A former polity in Brittany, in northwestern France, reckoned as either a county or viscounty.
2. (historical) A former region in Brittany, in northwestern France around the former polity.
3. A surname from French.

Alternative forms

• Léon

Statistics

According to the 2010 United States Census, Leon is the 363^rd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 86,363 individuals. Leon is most common among Hispanic/Latino (85.21%) and White (9.99%) individuals.

Anagrams

• lone, Noël, Leno, Noel, leno, neol., enol, one L, Nole, noël, nole, noel, NOEL, elon, Elno, Elon

Breton

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlewn/

Proper noun

Leon f

1. Léon, a historical region of Brittany

Synonyms

• Bro-Leon

Derived terms

• Leonad
• leoneg
• leonek

Danish

Proper noun

Leon

1. a male given name, variant of Leo

Faroese

Proper noun

Leon m

1. a male given name

Usage notes

Patronymics

• son of Leon: Leonsson
• daughter of Leon: Leonsdóttir

Declension

	singular
	indefinite
nominative	Leon
accusative	Leon
dative	Leoni
genitive	Leons

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleːɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Leon m (proper noun, strong, genitive Leons)

1. a male given name, variant of Leo

Irish

Proper noun

An Leon m (genitive an Leoin)

1. (astronomy, astrology) Leo

Declension

Declension of Leon (first declension, no plural)

bare forms case singular nominative Leon vocative a Leoin genitive Leoin dative Leon forms with the definite article case singular nominative an Leon genitive an Leoin dative leis an Leon don Leon

Norwegian

Proper noun

Leon

1. a male given name, variant of Leo

Old Galician-Portuguese

Reino de Leon

Alternative forms

• Leone

Etymology

Inherited from Latin Legione, ablative of Legio, Legionis, from Legio septima Gemina, a Roman legion.

Proper noun

Leon

1. (Kingdom of) León
   • 13th century CE, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 332 (facsimile):

     ũu mõeſteiro en reino de Leon

     a monastery in the Kingdom of León

2. León (city)
   • 13th century CE, Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Códice de los músicos, cantiga 332 (facsimile):

     un mõeſteiro que este preto de Leon

     a monastery close to León

Related terms

• colher
• escolher
• leer
• lenha
• lenho
• liçon

 

Descendants

• Galician: León
• Portuguese: Leão

Old Leonese

Etymology

From earlier Lejione, from Latin legiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʎeˈoŋ/

Proper noun

Leon

1. Kingdom of León
   • 1283, Infante Doña Maria, Carta de reconocimiento de los fueros, privilegios y franquezas del concejo de Toro por parte de D.ᵃ María, esposa del infante D. Sancho:

     et con todos sus fueros et libertades et con todos sus derechos, finque sin ninguna contienda, á Don Sancho, mio marido, ó aquel que fuere señor del regno de Leon.

     and with all their privileges and freedoms and with all their rights, granted without any dispute, to Don Sancho, my husband, or he who was lord of the kingdom of Leon.

   • 1226, De lo que Don Miguel con su mugier a la orden:

     A vos don Pedro Perez, comendador maior eno regno de Leon

     To you, Don Pedro Perez, Commander of the Kingdom of Leon.

2. León (city)
   • (Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     canolıgo dela egƚıa de Le͠o

     canon of the church of Leon

Descendants

• Asturian: Llión, Lleón
• Extremaduran: León
• Leonese: Llión
• Mirandese: Lhion

Polish

Alternative forms

• Lewan (Kuyavia)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin Leō. Doublet of lew.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.ɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɔn
• Syllabification: Le‧on

Proper noun

Leon m pers (female equivalent Leonia)

1. a male given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek], equivalent to English Leo

Declension

Declension of Leon

	singular	plural
nominative	Leon	Leonowie
genitive	Leona	Leonów
dative	Leonowi	Leonom
accusative	Leona	Leonów
instrumental	Leonem	Leonami
locative	Leonie	Leonach
vocative	Leonie	Leonowie

Further reading

• Leon in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lêon/

Proper noun

Lȅon m (Cyrillic spelling Ле̏он)

1. a male given name

Further reading

• “Leon”, in Portal suvremenih hrvatskih osobnih imena [Portal of contemporary Croatian personal names] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2018–2024

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /léːɔn/

Proper noun

Lẹ̑on m anim

1. Leo; a male given name

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine anim., hard o-stem
nominative	Léon
genitive	Léona
	singular
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	Léon
genitive (rodȋlnik)	Léona
dative (dajȃlnik)	Léonu
accusative (tožȋlnik)	Léona
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	Léonu
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	Léonom

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Leon c (genitive Leons)

1. a male given name, variant of Leo

Anagrams

• Noel