Name Léopold - meaning, origin, numerology

Leopold is an originally Germanic name composed of two stems, common to Germanic names. The first part is related to the Latin word "Leo", meaning lion (Although some say the first part is related to Old High German "liut" meaning "people"). The Germanic peoples had no word for "lion" as they weren't aware of the existence of lions until they established contacts with the Romans. The second part is of Germanic origin and means "brave", compare "bold". The name hence originally meant something close to "as brave as a lion". The name has been observed since the 5th century, including by the Frank Gregory of Tours, and the name gradually spread across Western Europe and during the 16th century it became popular in the southern Holy Roman Empire, due to the influence of the Margraves of Austria from the Babenberg dynasty.

Over a dozen Austrian rulers took the name Leopold, as did nearly a dozen from other European realms.

Other notable people bearing this name include:

• Leopold Auer Hungarian violinist, conductor, and composer
• Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, French Duke
• Léopold Clément Charles, Hereditary Prince of Lorraine, son of the above
• Léopold Eyharts, French astronaut
• Leopold Kronecker, 19th-century mathematician
• Leopold Mandić, a Croatian Catholic saint
• Leopold von Ranke, German historian
• Léopold Sédar Senghor, first president of Senegal
• Leopold Stokowski, a 20th-century conductor
• Leopold Mozart, a 17th-century composer and father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Leopold I (disambiguation), multiple people
• Leopold II (disambiguation), multiple people
• Leopold De Rossi, Italian merchant
• Leopold Duncan Sarrabo, Black general who helped liberate the South American country Guyana from the oppressive rule of the British
• Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of James Joyce's novel Ulysses

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English: of Germanic origin, composed of the elements liut people + bold bold, brave. The first element was altered by association with Latin leo lion. A name of this origin may have been introduced into Britain by the Normans, but if so it did not survive long. It was reintroduced from the Continent towards the end of the 19th century, partly in honour of King Leopold of the Belgians (1790–1865), the uncle of Queen Victoria, who was an influential adviser to her in her youth, and after whom she named one of her sons. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was also the name of two Austro-Hungarian emperors, who were also kings of Bohemia.
Cognates: French: Léopold. Italian, Spanish, Portuguese: Leopoldo. German: Luitpold.

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