Leo
A surname from the Latin word for “lion,” sometimes also used from the medieval personal name Leo.
The #4,423 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 38,406 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Leo is the Latin word for “lion,” and in medieval and later usage it also served as a personal name. As a surname, it can therefore arise either from the given name Leo (“son of Leo”) or from a direct borrowing of the lion-name itself in Romance languages. The sources also note Spanish and Italian forms Leon or Leone, showing how the same root spread across Europe.
History
The name appears in medieval records in forms such as "Leo" used as a personal name, and sometimes as a hereditary surname in England. Lower explicitly treats Leo as the Latin form of Lion, while Bardsley notes cases that look like baptisms from the personal name, possibly including Jewish usage in the hereditary surname period. In modern English-speaking countries it may be found both as an inherited surname and as a shortened or adapted form of longer names.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same ancient root behind Leo also gave us the star sign Leo and many European personal names meaning “lion.”
From the historical record
“shire. LEO. The Latin form of Lion. LEON. Spanish and Italian leone, a Lion. LEONARD. The personal name. Len- nie and Lankin ajipear to be derivatives, and Leuard and Lcunard are corruptions. LEPER. One afflicted with leprosy, a common disease in this countiy in Crusad- ing times. There were many lazar-houses”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom