Leo, a name with an expiration date

BarcelonaOn November 16, 2003, Leo Messi made his Barça first-team debut at just 16 years old, and in 2009, he won his first Ballon d'Or. Immediately after, between 2010 and 2019, the name Leo skyrocketed among babies born in Catalonia. Last year, it was the seventh most popular name, although by 2022 it had risen to second. Until 2000, there were only 38 children named Leo in Catalonia, but now there are 5,849, 64% of whom were born between 2010 and 2019. The average age of boys named Leo across the country is 6.7 years, according to data from the INE (National Institute of Statistics and Census). "It's a name clearly linked to the Leo Messi phenomenon; the children's ages indicate this," says Francesc Calafell, a researcher at the CSIC-UPF Institute of Evolutionary Biology. "It's still early, but perhaps we'll also see a surge in Alexias and Aitanas," he adds.

However, it's not in Catalonia where Leo is most common. The most common is in Cantabria, where 2.17 men out of every thousand are named, followed by A Coruña (2.16 per thousand). If we look at the distribution in Catalonia, the Baix Llobregat region is where it is most commonly used. In second place is Vallès Occidental, and in third, Maresme. However, in inland Catalonia, it's anecdotal. "It's not a name that sounds or is associated with Catalan," says Calafell. While girls' names tend to have shorter cycles, in this case, Francesc Calafell predicts that Leo will have "a relatively short cycle because it's a name created from a trend, it doesn't have a tradition behind it, and it's not a name that generates loyalty or indicates clear belonging to a particular group," he argues. "Names that respond to trends or are given after TV shows or movies tend to fall more quickly," he adds. The fact that it's a short, easy-to-pronounce, and international name (it's also used in France and Italy) has also contributed to its popularity. "I wouldn't be surprised if Leo's brother was called Enzo or vice versa. It's the same style of name, they're parallel names, which are often given by couples who call each other "enzo"love one to the other, since there is perhaps some Italian influence."

Leo as a woman's name

It must be said that it is a name that, although it is a diminutive of Leonardo (in Messi's case, however, it comes from Lionel), works as a proper name in itself, as is already the case with other Catalan names that have made a fortune such as Quim, Pep or Xavi. "Before, it was understood that there was a distinction between the formal name, the baptismal name, and the colloquial name you were called at home, and now there is no tendency to make that distinction," adds this researcher.

A far cry from Leo as a male name is Leo (not Leonor) as a female name: 168 women in Spain are called by it. The average age is fifteen years. "They are also very young, so I wouldn't be surprised if it were a peak in the wake of Infanta Leonor and that the diminutive was used because Leonor seems too formal," concludes Calafell.