Leo is a given name in several languages. In European languages, it is usually a masculine given name and it comes from the Latin word leo, which in turn comes from the Greek word λέων meaning "lion". It can also be used as a short form of other names that begin with Leo-, such as Leonard, Leonardo, Leonidas or Leopold, and occasionally Llywellyn. In Japanese, Leo or Reo (怜央) is usually a masculine given name.
The name can refer to:
People
Religious figures
- Pope Leo (disambiguation), 13 popes
- List of saints named Leo
- Leo of Constantinople (fl. 1134–1143), Patriarch of Constantinople
- Leo Rajendram Antony (1927–2012), 4th Bishop of Trincomalee
- Leo Baeck (1873–1956), German rabbi, scholar, and theologian
- Leo Zhedenov (1883–1959), member of the Russian apostolate
Rulers
- Emperor Leo (disambiguation), six Byzantine emperors
- King Leo (disambiguation), various kings and monarchs with the ruling name Leo
- Leo I, Prince of Armenia (died 1140)
Scientists
- Leo Esaki (born 1925), Japanese physicist and Nobel laureate
- Leo Kadanoff (1937–2015), American physicist
- Leó Szilárd (1898–1964), Jewish Hungarian-American physicist
In sports
Association football
- Leo Beenhakker (born 1942), Dutch football manager
- Leo Bosschart (1888–1951), Dutch footballer
- Leo Fortune-West (born 1971), English footballer
- Leo Krupnik (born 1979), Ukrainian-born American-Israeli former soccer player and current soccer coach
- Leo Messi (born 1987), Argentine footballer
Other sports
- Leo Baker (skateboarder) (born 1991), American skateboarder
- Leo Barry (born 1977), Australian rules footballer
- Leo Cantor (1919–1995), American NFL football player
- Leo Chenal (born 2000), American football player
- Leo Durocher (1905–1991), American baseball player and manager
- Leo Klein Gebbink (born 1968), Dutch field hockey player
- Leo Koloamatangi (born 1994), American football player
- Leo Komarov (born 1987), Finnish ice hockey player
- Leo Mazzone (born 1948), pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves and the Baltimore Orioles
- Leo McCrea (born 2003), British-Swiss Paralympic swimmer
- Leo Merle (born 1998), American Paralympic athlete
- Leo Monahan (artist) (born 1933), American paper artist
- Leo Monahan (sportswriter) (1926–2013), American sports journalist
- Leo Nomellini (1924–2000), American football player in both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame
- Leo Peelen (1968–2017), Dutch track cyclist
- Leo Rivas (born 1997), Venezuelan baseball player
- Leo Visser (born 1966), Dutch ice speed skater
- Leo van Vliet (born 1955), Dutch road bicycle racer
Artists and entertainers
- Leo Arnaud (1904–1991), French-American composer
- Leo de Berardinis (1940–2008), Italian stage actor and theatre director
- Leo de Bever (1930–2015), Dutch architect
- Leo G. Carroll (1886–1972), English actor
- Leo Chiosso (1920 - 2006), Italian lyricist
- Leo F. Forbstein (1892–1948), American film musical director and orchestra conductor
- Leo Gorcey (1917–1969), American actor
- Leo Howard (born 1997), American actor and martial artist
- Leo von König (1871–1944), German painter
- Leo Kottke (born 1945), American Finger-style Guitarist
- Leo Ku (born 1972), Hong Kong singer and actor
- Leo Rosten (1908–1997), American humorist
- Leo Saussay (born 1990), Thai actor and singer
- Leo Sayer (born 1948), British-born Australian pop musician
- Leo Tolstoy (1826–1910), Russian novelist
Politicians
- Leo von Caprivi (1831–1899), German general and Chancellor of Germany
- Leo Fernando (1895–1954), Sri Lankan Sinhala businessman, Member of Parliament for Buttala Electoral District
- Leo Keke (1947–2012), Nauruan politician
- Leo McAdam (born c. 1930), Canadian politician
- Leo Parskey (1915–1994), justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court
- Leo Ryan (1925–1978), California Congressman killed at Jonestown
- Leo Varadkar (born 1979), Irish politician and Tánaiste
Other
- Leo of Tripoli (died after 921/2), Greek renegade and admiral for the Abbasid Caliphate
- Leo Africanus (c. 1494 – c. 1554?), Andalusian Berber Moorish diplomat and author
- Leo Burnett (1891–1971), American advertising executive
- Leo Fender (1909–1991), American inventor, maker of electric guitars
- Leo Frank (1884–1915), American Jew murdered by a lynch mob
- Leo Jogiches (1867–1919), Russian Marxist revolutionary
- Leo Krim (2010–2012), American child killed along with his sister Lucia by their nanny
- Leo Laporte (born 1956), American technology broadcaster and author
- Leo Lee Tung-hai (1921–2010), Chairman of the Board of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals from 1970–1971, businessman and philanthropist in Hong Kong
- A. Leo Levin (1919–2015), American law professor
- Leo Loudenslager (1944–1997), American world champion aerobatics aviator
- Leo Strauss (1899–1973), American political philosopher
Fictional characters
- Dr. Leo Marvin, in the 1991 American comedy film What About Bob?, played by Richard Dreyfuss
- Leo Das, in the 2023 Indian action film Leo, played by Vijay
- Leo Beck, hunter in the video game Identity V
- Leo Tsukinaga, singer/songwriter from the franchise Ensemble Stars!
- Leo Corbett (Power Rangers), on the television series Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy
- Leo Demidov, protagonist of the novel Child 44
- Leo, from the manga series Pandora Hearts
- the title character of Ultraman Leo, a 1974 tokusatsu television series
- Leo Jones (Doctor Who), on the television series Doctor Who
- Leo Kliesen, a German spelunker in the Tekken series
- Leo Kovalensky, from the novel We the Living by Ayn Rand
- Leo McGarry, on the television series The West Wing
- Leo Fitz, on the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., played by Iain De Caestecker
- Leo Ross, in the 1989 American action comedy movie Speed Zone
- Leo, a nickname for Leonardo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Leo Wong, the father of Amy Wong on the television series Futurama
- Leo Valdez, a son of Hephaestus from Rick Riordan's The Heroes of Olympus fantasy novel series
- Leo Wagonman, one of the two main characters in the American sitcom television series George and Leo
- Leo Wyatt, on the television series Charmed
- Uncle Leo, on the television series Seinfeld
- Leo (That '70s Show), on the television series That '70s Show, played by Tommy Chong
- Leo (comics), in the Marvel universe
- Leo (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's), in the manga series Yu-Gi-Oh!
- A character in the video game series Tekken
- A character in the opera Leo, the Royal Cadet
- A character in the video game Final Fantasy VI
- A character in Red Earth (aka Warzard)
- Leo, in the American animated series Little Einsteins
- Leo, in the Canadian animated series Caillou
- A character in the anime and manga series Fairy Tail, who also goes by the name of "Loke"
- A character in the video game Fire Emblem Fates
- A character in the video games WarioWare: Get It Together! and WarioWare: Move It!, as the minor antagonist
- Leo, a character in the Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger
- Leo Lieberman, daughter of David "Micro" Lieberman and Sarah Lieberman in The Punisher, portrayed by Ripley Sobo
- Leo, one of the instructors in the video game Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm and Exercise
- Leo, a nickname for Leonardo Watch from the series Kekkai Sensen
See also
Name listThis page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article. Categories: