Names That Mean Lion

Hamza was the legendary uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, hero of The Hamzanama, the Story of Hamza.

Leontine is the French form of a name that's more familiar by its spelling variation Leontyne, the name made famous by opera diva Price. An obscure choice, Leontine nevertheless feels right for our lion-name-crazed moment.

This is the original form of the ancient name also spelled Llewelyn. In ancient Wales, it was borne by two princes who for a time united their countrymen in North Wales and led opposition to the power of the Norman barons in the south. Llywelyn ap Iorwerth was the greatest of the Welsh rulers of the Middle Ages. This is a popular patriotic name, with nicknames Llelo and Llew, which is also Welsh for 'lion.'

Leocadia marries a mix of sounds: the strength of a lion, with a rhythmic Latin ending.

Better than Lenny, not as good as Leo, and tightly tied to Tonight Show host Jay Leno.

If you like Dylan, Quinn, or Leo but find them too popular, Quillan could be a distinctive and interesting alternative. It is sometimes connected to the zodiac sign of Leo, making it a cool way to honor a someone born under the lion sign, or to mark your baby's birthdate if they're born between July and August.

Lion is a masculine name taken straight from the name of the animal, associating it with strength, courage, and nobility across many cultures. With Germanic, French, and English language roots, Lion functions both as a standalone name and as a shortened form of names like Lionel.

Leya is a simple, attractive multicultural choice, but with some teasing peril. The "Star Wars" princess spelled her name Leia.

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 biblically themed sib-set.

This form got noticed as the first name of long-reigning Russian president Brezhnev; other bearers include playwright and short-story writer Andreyev, Leonid the Magnificent,a Russian performance artist on America's Got Talent, and Leonid McGill, the protagonist of a Walter Mosley private eye series. All in all, though, Leonid is not the most likely to join the pride of lion-related names here.

Alparslan is a combination of the Turkish words alp, meaning "hero," and arslan, "lion." The name is a reference to Alp Arslan, the title given to 11th-century Seljuk sultan Muhammad bin Dawud Chaghri when his army defeated the Byzantines.

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 language spoken by five million people.

Attractive but uncommon name which has been used as a character name in several movies, including The Lion King II and Planet of the Apes. Ziri and Tiziri are variants.

There are a lot of lion-themed names in fashion these days, and Lenna is one of the more unusual. It's a genuine European short form, ala Leni, given to about 100 baby girls in the US last year.

A name of Persian, Turkish, Kazakh, and Uzbek origin, Alisher can be considered a compound name, blending the popular Arabic name Ali with the Persian shir meaning "sublime lion", or a purely Persian choice meaning "brave prince".

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

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 Ruslan was used by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin for the hero of his epic poem Ruslan and Ludmila, based on Russian and Tatar folktales about the hero Yeruslan Lazarevich. Yeruslan or Uruslan is a Tatar name likely deriving from Turkic arslan "lion".

Levan is a cool Georgian variant of Leon, popular in its native country. With that sleek V sound in the middle, it may appeal to parents looking for a unique alternative to Levi.

While it may look like a variation of popular Leo, Llio is in fact a Welsh name, derived from Gwenllian, the medieval name of a legendary princess who is a national heroine in Wales. Given to a small handful of girls most years in Wales — three in a recent count — the double L sound is hard to translate into English because it is specifically Welsh.

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. Another notable bearer is Timoleon Jimanez, former leader of the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.