Leon (given name)

Leon is a first name of Greek origin-the Greek λέων (léon; leōn), meaning "lion," has spawned the Latin "Leo," French "Lyon," Irish "Leon" and Spanish "León." Perhaps the oldest attested historical figure to bear this name was Leon of Sparta, a 5th-century BCE king of Sparta, while in Greek mythology Leon was a Giant killed by Heracles. During the Christian era Leon was merged with the Latin cognate Leo, with the result that the two forms are used interchangeably.[1] A similar Greek name to Leon is Leonidas, meaning "son of a lion", with Leonidas I, king of Sparta, being perhaps the most famous bearer of that name.

Leon (English, German, Dutch, Russian version) or Léon (French version) or León (Spanish version) may refer to:

Etymology

Ancient Greek λέων from Proto-Semitic *labiʾ- (not Indo-European).

People

• Leon of Byzantium (died ~336 BC), Byzantine politician and/or historian, pupil of Aristoteles
• Leon of Macedon (fl. 197 BC), Macedonian cavalry commander
• Leon (mathematician) (fl. 400 BC), Greek mathematician, precursor of Euclid
• Leon of Modena (1571–1648), Venetian scholar
• Leon of Pella, Macedonian historian
• Leon of Phlius (fl. ~620 BC), tyrant of his city
• Leon of Salamis (died 406 or 403 BC), Athenian politician and naval commander
• Leon of Sparta, Spartan king
• Leon of Sparta (Ephor), Spartan Olympic victor in the chariot race 424, eponymous ephor 419/18 BC
• Leo the Deacon, Byzantine historian
• León Aillaud (1880–1936), Mexican politician
• Leon Ashley (1936–2013), American country music singer and songwriter
• Léon Bakst (1866-1924), Russian painter and scene- and costume designer
• Leon Bates (1899–1972), American union leader
• Leon Belasco (1902 – 1988), Russian-American musician and actor
• Leon Benois (1856–1928), Russian architect
• Leon Best (born 1986), Irish football player
• Léon Bloy (1846–1917), French writer
• Léon Blum (1872–1950), French politician and Prime Minister
• Léon Boëllmann (1862–1897), French composer
• Leon Bourgeois (1851–1925), French politician and Prime Minister
• Léon Breitling (1860–1914), Swiss watchmaker and businessman
• Leon Brittan (1939–2015), British politician
• Leon Camier (born 1986), British motorcycle racer
• Léon Chagnaud (1866–1930), French businessman and politician.
• Leon Chua, a Chinese-American scientist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley
• Leon Cooper (1930–), American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
• Leon Cooperman (1943–) American billionaire investor, hedge fund manager
• Leon Czolgosz (1873–1901), American anarchist
• Leon Dănăilă (1933-), Romanian neurosurgeon
• Léon Dierx (1838–1912), French poet
• Léon Dion (1922–1997), Canadian political scientist
• Leon Durham (born 1957), American baseball player
• Leon Edel (1907–1997), American writer and literary critic
• Leon Edney (born 1935), American admiral
• Léon Arthur Elchinger (1908–1998), French Catholic archbishop
• León Febres Cordero (1931–2008), Ecuadorian politician and President
• Leon Feldhendler (1910–1945), Polish Jewish resistance fighter
• León Felipe (1884–1968), Spanish poet
• Leon Fleisher (born 1928), American pianist and conductor
• Léon Foucault (1819–1868), French physicist
• Leon Friedman (1886–1948), American politician
• Léon Gambetta (1838–1882), French politician and Prime Minister
• Leon Garfield (1921–1996), British author
• Léon Gaumont (1864–1946), French inventor and industrialist
• Léon Gérin (1863–1951), Canadian lawyer
• León Gieco (born 1951), Argentinian musician and interpreter
• Leon M. Goldstein (died 1999), American President of Kingsborough Community College, and acting Chancellor of the City University of New York
• Léon Goossens (1897–1988), British oboist
• Léon Guérin (1807-1885), French author, poet, and naval historian
• Leon Haslam (born 1983), British motorcycle racer
• Leon Hatziioannou (born 1965), Canadian football player
• Leon Jackson (born 1988), British singer
• Leon Jacobs (born 1995), American football player
• Leon Jaworski (1905–1982), American lawyer
• Leon Johnson (disambiguation), multiple people
• Leon S. Kennedy (character), protagonist of horror video game series Resident Evil
• León Klimovsky (1906–1996), Argentine film director, screenwriter and film producer
• Leon Klinghoffer (1916–1985), a Jewish-American man who was murdered
• Leon Koudelak (born 1961), Czech guitarist
• Leon Krier (born 1986), Luxembourg architect
• Leon Lai (born 1966), Hong Kong actor and singer
• Leon Lederman (1922–2018), American physicist and Nobel Prize winner
• Leon Leyson (1929–2013), Polish-American Holocaust survivor and author
• Léon Augustin Lhermitte (1844–1925), French painter and etcher
• Leon McKenzie (born 1978), British football player
• Leon McQuay III (born 1994), American football player
• Leon Milo (born 1956), American musician
• Léon Motchane (1900–1990), French industrialist and mathematician. Founder of the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in Bures-sur-Yvette
• Leon Orr (born 1992), American football player
• Leon Panetta (born 1938), American politician
• Léon Pétillon (1903–1996), Belgian politician
• Léon Abel Provancher (1820–1892), Canadian priest and naturalist
• Leon Punch (1928–1991), Australian politician
• Leon Radosevic (born 1990), Croatian basketball player
• Leon Redbone (1949–2019), American singer and songwriter
• Leon Robinson (born 1962), American actor and singer
• Leon Rotman (born 1934), Romanian canoer
• Leon Russell (1942–2016), American singer and songwriter
• Léon Say (1826–1896), French economist and politician
• Leon Schiller (1887–1954), Austro-Hungarian director and composer
• Leon Shamroy (1901–1974), American film cinematographer
• Léon Schlienger (1922–2002), French songwriter
• Leon Schuster (born 1951), South African filmmaker, actor and musician
• Leon Simon (1881-1965), British intellectual and civil servant; President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Leon Sperling (1900–1941), Polish soccer player
• Léon Spilliaert (1881–1946), Belgian painter
• Leon Spinks (1953–2021), American boxer
• Leon Sullivan (1922–2001), American civil rights leader
• Leon Sylvers III (born 1953), American singer, songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist
• Leon Taylor (born 1977), British swimmer
• Léon Teisserenc de Bort (1855–1913), French meteorologist
• Léon Theremin (1896–1993), Russian inventor
• Leon Thijssen (born 1968), Dutch show jumper
• Leon Thomas III (born 1993), American actor
• Leon Topalian, American businessman, CEO of Nucor
• Leon Trotsky (1879–1940), Russian revolutionary and politician
• Leon Underwood (1890–1975), British sculptor, painter and writer
• Leon Uris (1924–2003), American novelist
• Leon V of Armenia (1342–1393), King of Armenia
• Léon Vaudoyer (1803–1872), French architect
• Léon Walras (1834–1910), French economist
• Leon Ware (born 1940), American singer, songwriter and producer
• Leon White (1955–2018), American professional wrestler, better known as Big Van Vader
• Leon Wilkeson (1952–2001), American bassist, member of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Leon Norman Williams (1914–1999), British barrister and philatelic writer

See also

• Leo (given name)

References

1. Withycombe, E.G. (1945) The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press