Leonardo
Meaning of Leonardo
Leonardo bursts out of Italy with a smile and a mane, its Germanic roots—“leo” for lion and “hard” for brave—blending into one fearless meaning: brave lion. Pronounced lee-oh-NAR-doh, it rolls off the tongue like a warm Mediterranean breeze. Renaissance superstar Leonardo da Vinci gives it genius, Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio adds movie-star sparkle, a string of Brazilian footballers keep it on the field, and a certain blue-masked Ninja Turtle supplies kid-friendly swagger. No wonder the name has raced into the U.S. Top 100, landing at a lively No. 83 in 2024 after years of steady climbs. With breezy nicknames like Leo or Nardo and a full form that sounds like music, Leonardo hands a newborn a passport stamped with creativity, courage, and pure Latin sunshine.
Pronunciation
Italian
- Pronunced as lee-oh-NAR-doh (/li.o.'nar.do/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Leonardo
| Leonardo DiCaprio is an American actor and producer known for biographical and period films, winner of an Oscar, a BAFTA, and three Golden Globes, whose movies have earned over seven billion dollars worldwide and who has often ranked among the highest paid actors. |
| Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance polymath whose masterful paintings and far ranging notebooks made him the quintessential humanist genius and a lasting influence on art and science. |
| Leonardo Torres Quevedo was a Spanish engineer, mathematician, and inventor who pioneered remote control, early computing, and robotics, held leading posts in Spanish academies, and became a foreign associate of the French Academy of Sciences. |
| Leonardo Santos is a Brazilian retired MMA fighter and fourth degree BJJ black belt who won The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 2, fought in the UFC lightweight division, and is a four time BJJ World Cup champion and ADCC medalist. |
| Leonardo Martin Mayer is an Argentine tennis coach and former pro who achieved career-high rankings of 21 in singles in 2015 and 48 in doubles in 2019. |
| Leonardo Padura Fuentes - Cuban novelist and journalist Leonardo Padura, best known for the Mario Conde detective series and El hombre que amaba a los perros, won Cuba's National Prize for Literature in 2012 and Spain's Premio Principe de Asturias de las Letras in 2015. |
| Leonardo da Silva Souza, known as Leonardo, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder on either wing. |
| Leonardo Campana Romero is an Ecuadorian forward for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution and the Ecuador national team. |
| Leonardo Ulrich Steiner is a Brazilian Franciscan prelate, a bishop since 2005 and Archbishop of Manaus since 2020, who previously served as auxiliary bishop of Brasilia from 2011 to 2019. |
| Leonardo Nicolas Pisculichi is an Argentine retired attacking midfielder who won the 2014 Copa Sudamericana and 2015 Copa Libertadores with River Plate. |
| Leonardo Sarto is an Italian rugby union wing who plays for Mogliano Veneto in Serie A Elite. |
| Leonardo Antonio Aguilar Alvarez is a Mexican singer with two Latin Grammy nominations by 2017. |
| Italian surfer Leonardo Fioravanti was the first from his country to compete in Olympic surfing at Tokyo 2020 and has qualified for the 2024 Games. |
| Leonardo Castellani was an Italian engraver and painter celebrated for chalcography landscapes. |
| Leonardo Basso is an Italian professional cyclist who most recently rode for UCI WorldTeam Astana Qazaqstan Team. |
