| Matteo | Leonardo | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Gift of God | Brave lion |
| Origin | italian | italian |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | maht-TEH-oh | leh-oh-NAR-doh |
| Syllables | 3 | 4 |
| First appeared | 1911 | 1885 |
| Peak year | 2024 (2,589) | 2019 (4,427) |
| In 2025 | 2,455 | 3,789 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Matteo | Leonardo |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 14,188 | 24,361 |
| 2010s | 14,630 | 35,230 |
| 2000s | 3,241 | 19,490 |
| 1990s | 676 | 7,285 |
| 1980s | 174 | 3,194 |
| 1970s | 120 | 2,467 |
| 1960s | 74 | 1,400 |
| 1950s | 26 | 879 |
| 1940s | 7 | 526 |
| 1930s | 65 | 427 |
| 1920s | 180 | 508 |
| 1910s | 102 | 256 |
| 1900s | 0 | 38 |
| 1880s | 0 | 5 |
Italian form of Matthew, ultimately from Hebrew 'Mattityahu' ('gift of Yahweh / gift of God') via Greek Matthaios.
Italian form of Leonard, from the Germanic elements 'lewo' (lion, borrowed from Latin 'leo') and 'hard' ('brave, hardy, strong'), giving 'brave as a lion'.
Leonardo is more popular than Matteo today: about 3,789 US babies were given the name Leonardo in 2025, compared with 2,455 named Matteo.
Matteo means Gift of God (italian origin), while Leonardo means Brave lion (italian origin).
In US records, Matteo first appears in 1911 and Leonardo in 1885, so Leonardo has the longer recorded history.