Names That Mean Lion

Lyon

French

"lion"

The y makes it seem more like a name and less like an animal, but it's still not as appealing as several Leo choices.

Napoleon

Greek

"lion of the new city"

Overly ambitious choice, recently borne by the hapless hero of cult movie hit Napoleon Dynamite.

Simba

Swahili or Shona

"lion; strength"

Traditional African name made cartoonish by the Disney character in The Lion King. In Shona it means "strength".

Levon

Armenian, variation of Leon

"lion"

Levon, an unusual alternative to Levi. has two musical associations: it's the title of an Elton John song, inspired by late, great drummer for The Band, Levon Helm--whose birth name was Mark. Uma…

Llew

Welsh

"lion, leader"

Welsh for "lion", or a nickname for Llewelyn. Could make a cooler substitute for the blander Lou.

Othniel

Hebrew

"lion of god, or strength of god"

Othniel is mentioned in the Bible and Tanakh (in the Book of Judges) where he is the first of the biblical judges mentioned. Othniel was related to Caleb, which might make these two names a nice…

Arieh

Hebrew

"lion"

Arieh is a form of a Biblical name that can also be spelled Aryeh or Arye. There's also a feminine form, Ariyah. There were 100 boys in the US named Aryeh last year, with a handful given the other…

Sher

Persian & Hindi

"lion"

A powerful, storied name, used by countless significant figures throughout history in Central and South Asia, whose appeal in the U.S. may be limited by its near-homonymy with the word "sure."

Ruslan

Slavic from Turkic

"lion"

A fairly common name in many Slavic countries, especially Russia – perhaps in part because it sounds close to the name of the country, although the two words are unrelated etymologically. The name…

Timoleon

Greek

"lion honor"

This ancient name, belonging to a 4th century BCE Greek statesman and general, would be one of those unique baby names with lots of more down-to-earth nickname potential, including Tim and Leon.…

Leonzo

Italian

"lion"

Italian variation of Leon.

Izem

Berber

"lion"

Tau

Indigenous Australian or Tswana, Sotho

"dusk, twilight; lion"

Tau, rhyming with cow, is a simple straightforward name with roots in two languages and cultures, the Kaurna language spoken by indigenous Australian people or the African Tswana language, a Bantu…

Lenart

Slovene variation of Leonard, German

"brave lion"

Chirpy form of Leonard that's common in its native Slovenia.

Leonce

French, Greek

"lion"

A chic French vintage name on the rise there for both sexes, which would make for an unconventional route to Leo.