Names That Mean Lion

The lion has stood for courage and royalty in many cultures, and two ancient roots give most of the names here. Latin leo, lion, gives Leo, Leon, Leona, Leonel and Lionel, and Leonardo and Leonard join it with a Germanic word for brave or hardy. Leonidas is the Greek name of the Spartan king who fought at Thermopylae, and Leandro, the Spanish and Italian form of a Greek name, is often explained as lion man.

Hebrew ari, lion, is behind Ari, Arie and Ariel. Ariel means lion of God and appears in the Hebrew Bible as a name for Jerusalem. It is also a spirit in the play The Tempest, which helped make it a name for girls as well as boys. Ariella, Arielle and Ariela are feminine forms that feel graceful and modern.

This list has a nice balance between boys and girls, and many names share a sound, which makes sibling sets easy. Leo and Ari are short and strong, while Leonardo and Leonidas are grand and full of history. If you like a nickname, Leonardo and Leonidas shorten naturally to Leo, and Ariella or Arielle can become Ari.