Leaf Surname

78,842nd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 6,194 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
New Zealand

Leaf Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the lief,' i.e. dear; v. Leifchild. The diminutive lief-kin, a term of endearment.

Pagan Lef, Norfolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Alice le Lef, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Lone the Lef, Huntingdonshire, ibid.

Read More About This Surname

Leaf Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States4,4821:80,8709,192
England6471:86,1189,418
Canada2461:149,77915,288
New Zealand2371:19,1073,364
South Africa1291:419,98236,405
Australia1271:212,56520,555
China741:18,477,3181,049
India421:18,263,461278,402
Wales331:93,7747,567
Malaysia211:1,404,48759,312
Scotland141:382,41616,471
Iran131:5,906,348134,214
United Arab Emirates121:763,52325,625
France101:6,642,272293,169
Brazil81:26,759,292405,030
Japan71:18,263,47047,869
Indonesia71:18,892,742520,071
Thailand61:11,773,058553,295
Qatar61:393,00055,922
Israel51:1,711,52784,568
Switzerland51:1,642,58387,307
Hong Kong41:1,833,8716,220
Vietnam41:23,161,5143,610
Egypt41:22,983,93862,368
Myanmar41:12,984,4961,309
Pakistan41:44,660,971115,884
Singapore41:1,376,92628,409
Germany31:26,835,153452,368
Taiwan31:7,814,91541,694
Philippines31:33,746,074302,898
Afghanistan21:16,076,59243,178
Namibia21:1,204,70016,113
Turkey21:38,910,711171,901
Spain21:23,376,018128,922
United States Virgin Islands11:110,3756,934
Sweden11:9,846,757347,448
Bangladesh11:159,356,77326,077
Northern Ireland11:1,845,03620,648
Austria11:8,515,435118,036
Cambodia11:15,487,14614,824
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Senegal11:14,579,34211,705
Saudi Arabia11:30,855,81763,028
Portugal11:10,418,24125,048
Norway11:5,142,286129,201
Botswana11:2,186,92930,250
Netherlands11:16,887,176156,465
Ireland11:4,708,93929,543
Kyrgyzstan11:5,972,65499,197
Kenya11:46,179,900103,372
Jordan11:8,842,43726,010
Hungary11:9,816,27773,288
Finland11:5,496,70284,025
British Virgin Islands11:31,5941,029
Costa Rica11:4,780,06913,345
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England5071:48,0785,926
Scotland21:1,871,60827,884
Wales11:1,568,41619,290
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States4261:117,88411,557

Leaf (656) may also be a first name.

Leaf Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the lief,' i.e. dear; v. Leifchild. The diminutive lief-kin, a term of endearment.

Pagan Lef, Norfolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Alice le Lef, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Lone the Lef, Huntingdonshire, ibid.

Nicholas Leve, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Lucia Te Lyf, Somerset, l Edward III: ibid.

1677. Married — Richard Owen and Susanna Leefe: St. Michael, Cornhill.

1754. — James Leaf and Elizabeth Clarke: St. George, Hanover Square.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(English) Dear, Beloved (One) [Middle English lef, leef, lief, leof, Old English léof] Alice la Lef.—Hundred Rolls O sonnes lief, O Joves daughter dere.— Chaucer, Troil. & Cris., iii. 3.

For unto Crist it is so lief and deere.— Chaucer, Cant. Tales, G 1467.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(English) The beloved person.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

From Anglo-Saxon leóf, dear, beloved, precious. Ferguson says there was a Leof, assassin of King Edmund, who sadly belied his name; and that Liúfa and Liufina are respectively male and female names in the Landnamabok. Hence the name Life.

Ludus Patronymicus (1868) by Richard Stephen Charnock

Leaf Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Leaf Come From? nationality or country of origin

The surname Leaf (Arabic: ليف) is carried by more people in The United States than any other country or territory. It can also be rendered as a variant:. Click here to see other possible spellings of this name.

How Common Is The Last Name Leaf? popularity and diffusion

The surname is the 78,842nd most commonly used last name on earth, borne by approximately 1 in 1,176,549 people. The surname Leaf occurs mostly in The Americas, where 73 percent of Leaf live; 73 percent live in North America and 73 percent live in Anglo-North America. It is also the 324,189th most frequently used first name worldwide. It is borne by 656 people.

The surname is most commonly used in The United States, where it is held by 4,482 people, or 1 in 80,870. In The United States it is most numerous in: California, where 11 percent are found, Minnesota, where 11 percent are found and Washington, where 7 percent are found. Other than The United States Leaf is found in 55 countries. It is also common in England, where 10 percent are found and Canada, where 4 percent are found.

Leaf Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Leaf has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people carrying the Leaf last name grew 1,052 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it grew 128 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it grew 3,300 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Scotland it grew 700 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Leaf Last Name Statistics demography

In The United States those holding the Leaf surname are 6.76% more likely to be registered Republicans than The US average, with 53.53% being registered with the political party.

The amount Leaf earn in different countries varies greatly. In South Africa they earn 88.9% more than the national average, earning R 448,896 per year; in United States they earn 9.74% more than the national average, earning $47,350 USD per year and in Canada they earn 9.54% more than the national average, earning $54,422 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Leafe89778/
Leaff8948/
Lehaf8915/
Leafs891/
Laf86842/
Lef86301/
Lehaff8014/
Leaffe802/
Lehhaf801/
Leva7515,656/
Leff754,232/
Lauf752,203/
Loef751,226/
Leef75945/
Leif75901/
Lief75820/
Luef75815/
Left75809/
Leaw75721/
Layf75574/
Laff75562/
Lafe75482/
Lefe75346/
Leab75340/
Latf75329/
Laif75226/
Laaf75175/
Lyaf75140/
Leuf75107/
Leav7586/
Leof7568/
Leyf7564/
Laft7534/
Lhaf7531/
Lepf7513/
Laef758/
Lawf755/
Lafs754/
Lefs753/
Lapf753/
Lazf753/
Lafh752/
Lasf752/
Lajf752/
Lefp752/
Letf752/
Lyef751/
Ladf751/
Liaf751/
Hlef751/
Lesf751/
Lahf751/
Lafp751/
Lafz751/
Lejf751/
Lefz751/
Lleva672,315/
Lauff671,575/
Laufs671,229/
Loeff67723/
Leefe67450/
Lahaf67403/
Lhafe67236/
Lieff67232/
Lashf67231/
Leffe67139/
Lejab67139/
Leoff67108/
Leova67100/
Laffe6791/
Leife6759/
Laaff6750/
Laitf6744/
Leipf6743/
Lefft6742/
Lauft6738/
Hleva6730/
Leowa6727/
Laiif6719/
Lepfe6717/
Latff6716/
Leffs6714/
Leiff6713/
Lueff6712/
Leftt6711/
Leeaw6711/
Leifs679/
Leauv679/
Llasf679/
Laief677/
Layif677/
Leift676/
Layef675/
Hlaft675/
Liaft675/
Leaph674/
Lattf674/
Lawef673/
Leyaw673/
Lajaf673/
Leeab673/
Laafe672/
Lehfe672/
Lauwf672/
Lepfh672/
Lajif672/
Glief672/
Hlefe672/
Lejaw672/
Hleif672/
Luief671/
Liyaf671/
Lewfe671/
Lettf671/
Laffs671/
Leabh671/
Leavh671/
Leaws671/
Leefs671/
Laudf671/
Lawff671/
Lahff671/
Laiff671/
Lehaw671/
Lehef671/
Layaf671/
Lehav671/
Hleof671/
Leitf671/
Layfh671/
Layuf671/
Leffz671/
Laaft671/
Leuff671/
Leuav671/
Leyab671/
Lyaff671/
Lehof671/
Loevf671/
Lgafh671/
Lathf671/
Lazft671/
Lehzf671/
Hlefh671/
Hleff670/
Lafft670/
Leyfe670/

Leaf Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Leaf in the Arabic language
ليفlyf-

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Leaf
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis