Leonard

Leonard or Leo is a common English masculine given name and a surname.

The given name and surname originate from the Old High German Leonhard containing the prefix levon ("lion") from the Greek Λέων ("lion") through the Latin Leo, and the suffix hardu ("brave" or "hardy"). The name has come to mean "lion strength", "lion-strong", or "lion-hearted". Leonard was the name of a Saint in the Middle Ages period, known as the patron saint of prisoners.[1]

Leonard is also an Irish origin surname, from the Gaelic O'Leannain also found as O'Leonard, but often was anglicised to just Leonard,[2] consisting of the prefix O ("descendant of") and the suffix Leannan ("lover"). The oldest public records of the surname appear in 1272 in Huntingdonshire, England, and in 1479 in Ulm, Germany.[3]

The name has variants in other languages:[4]