Leon (given name)

Leon (λέων) is a first name of Greek origin, meaning "lion". It gave rise to similar names in other languages, including the Latin Leo, French Lyon or Léon, Irish Leon, Spanish León or Georgian Levan / ლევან''.

In Greek mythology, Leon was a giant killed by Heracles. One of the oldest attested historical figures to bear this name was Leon of Sparta, a 6th-century BCE king of Sparta. During the Christian era, the name Leon was merged with the Latin cognate Leo, with the result that the two forms are used interchangeably.

A similar Greek name, Leonidas, means "son of a lion". Leonidas I, king of Sparta, was a famous bearer of that name.

The Ancient Greek word λέων ultimately comes from Proto-Semitic *labiʾ-, which is not Indo-European.

People
Leon (English, German, Dutch, Russian version), Léon (French version), León (Spanish version) may refer to:
 * 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. c. 620 BC), tyrant of his city
 * Leon of Salamis (died 406 or 403 BC), Athenian politician and naval commander
 * Leon of Sparta, Spartan king
 * León Aillaud (1880–1936), Mexican politician
 * Leon Ashley (1936–2013), American country music singer and songwriter
 * Leon Askin (1907-2005), Austrian actor
 * Leon Bailey (born 1997), Jamaican footballer
 * Léon Bakst (1866–1924), Russian painter and scene- and costume designer
 * Leon Bates (labor leader) (1899–1972), American union leader
 * Leon Belasco (1902–1988), Russian-American musician and actor
 * Leon Benois (1856–1928), Russian architect
 * Leon Berkowitz (1911–1987), American abstract painter
 * Leon Berry (1914–1996), American organist
 * 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, founder of Breitling SA
 * Leon Brittan (1939–2015), British politician
 * Leon Burns (1942–1984), American football player
 * Leon Cadore (1891–1958), American baseball player
 * 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 (born 1930), American physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
 * Leon Cooperman (born 1943) American billionaire investor, hedge fund manager
 * Leon Czolgosz (1873–1901), American anarchist, assassin of William McKinley
 * Leon Dănăilă (born 1933), Romanian neurosurgeon
 * Léon Deffontaines (born 1996), French politician
 * Léon Dierx (1838–1912), French poet
 * Léon Dion (1922–1997), Canadian political scientist
 * Leon Draisaitl (born 1995), German ice hockey player
 * Leon Durham (born 1957), American baseball player
 * Leon Edel (1907–1997), American writer and literary critic
 * Leon Edney (born 1935), American admiral
 * Leon Edwards (born 1991), UFC Fighter
 * 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 (1928–2020), American pianist and conductor
 * Léon Foucault (1819–1868), French physicist
 * Leon Friedman (legal scholar) (born 1933), American legal scholar
 * Leon Friedman (politician) (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 Goldensohn (1911–1961), American psychiatrist and author of The Nuremberg Interviews
 * 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
 * Leon Goretzka (born 1995), German professional footballer
 * Léon Guérin (1807-1885), French author, poet, and naval historian
 * Leon Haslam (born 1983), British motorcycle racer
 * Leon Hatziioannou (born 1965), Canadian football player
 * León Herrera Esteban (1922–2003), Spanish military officer and politician
 * Leon Jackson (born 1988), Scottish singer
 * Leon Quincy Jackson (1926/1927–1995), American architect and professor
 * Leon Jacobs (born 1995), American football player
 * Leon James (footballer) (born 2001), Thai footballer
 * 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 1946), 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 Marchlewski (1869–1946), Polish chemist
 * Leon McKenzie (born 1978), British football player
 * Leon McQuay III (born 1994), American football player
 * Leon P. Miller (1899–1980), American lawyer, politician, and judge
 * Leon Milo (1956–2014), American musician
 * Leon Moser (1942–1995), American murderer
 * 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
 * Leon Pescheret (1892–1971), British-American designer, watercolorist, etcher, and illustrator.
 * 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), Polish director and composer
 * Leon Schlesinger (1884–1949), American film producer
 * Noël Regney, born Léon Schlienger (1922–2002), French songwriter
 * Leon Schuster (born 1951), South African filmmaker, actor and musician
 * Leon Shamroy (1901–1974), American film cinematographer
 * Leon Simon (Zionist) (1881–1965), British intellectual and civil servant; president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
 * Leon Sperling (1900–1941), Polish footballer
 * 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 Vance (1916–1944), American aviators
 * Leon V of Armenia (1342–1393), King of Armenia
 * Léon Vaudoyer (1803–1872), French architect
 * Léon Walras (1834–1910), French economist
 * Leon Ware (1940–2017), 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
 * León Zuleta (1952–1993), Colombian LGBT activist and writer