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Leda Name Meaning, Origins & History

Leda

Pronunciation: LEE-duh

Meaning Joy, happiness Origin Greek Gender Girl
GIRLS RANK
#8,641
TREND
861
Peak Years
1920, 1916, 1951
Lowest Years
1881, 1882, 1885
Energy Archetype
Wise & Balanced

Rank shows the name’s position among U.S. baby names for each gender in 2025. Trend shows how many places it rose or fell since 2024. Rank 1 is the most popular. Based on U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) data. Peak and lowest years are based on the number of girls named Leda in the available records.

Fun Facts About the Name Leda

  • More than 3 thousand babies named Leda: U.S. records list 3,448 babies given the name Leda from 1880 through 2025.

What Does the Name Leda Mean?

Leda is a name from ancient Greek myth, written Λήδα in Greek. Its literal meaning is not securely known. The name is generally treated as coming from the pre-Greek population of the Aegean rather than from a clearly identifiable Greek root, and no single derivation is widely accepted. Because the word cannot be reliably broken into Greek components with a known sense, the meaning is best described as uncertain rather than assigned a translation.

Leda Name History & Origins

In Greek tradition Leda was the queen of Sparta and the wife of King Tyndareus. Zeus came to her in the form of a swan, and she became the mother of Helen (later Helen of Troy) and of Polydeuces, called Pollux by the Romans; by Tyndareus she was the mother of Clytemnestra and Castor. The surviving accounts disagree about which children belonged to which father, and the number of children varies from telling to telling. The name is already present in early Greek poetry: in the Odyssey, Odysseus sees "Leda, the wife of Tyndareus" among the women of the underworld.

The story was a common subject in ancient art and was taken up again in European painting from the Renaissance onward, including works by Correggio and paintings of Leda and the Swan attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and to Michelangelo, both now lost. W. B. Yeats retold the myth in his sonnet "Leda and the Swan" in 1923.

The name was later given to 38 Leda, an asteroid discovered in 1856, and to Leda, a small moon of Jupiter discovered in 1974.

How Popular is the Name Leda?

Leda recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 1920. Its best rank was #516 in 1904.

U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.

Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.

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How the Name Leda Shapes Your Personality and Life?

You always bring to completion anything you start. You are generous but like to see returns from your giving. You have an executive ability, you are a leader. You are moral, balanced, honest and intellectual, and you may attain spirituality. You are wise and practical with an appreciation of beauty. You always think before you act. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.

Dependable, very down-to-earth and well grounded, you are always looking for meaningful work, a career where you can take pride in your work and do the best job you are capable of. Your prime desire is to build protected and secure environment at home and at work. You can be very persuasive in achieving goals and gaining objectives. You can be very detailed and well-organized and possess great organizational skills. At times you may appear too stubborn and overly critical to others, but your practical approach to life and productivity makes you one of the most beneficent members of community.

✦ Leda's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Leda's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.
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