Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Leandro
Leandro is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish form of Leander which is the Latinized version of the Greek Leandros (Λεανδρος) from the elements “leon” (lion) and “andros” (of men). Leander is a character in Greek mythology, specifically from the story of Hero and Leander, which has inspired scores of artists to immortalize in many classical works. In a nutshell, the Greek legend of Hero and Leander goes something like this: Hero was a beautiful priestess of Aphrodite (the goddess of love and beauty) who dwelled in Sestos. Sestos was an ancient Greek town along the narrow water straight called Hellespont which connected the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea by way of the Sea of Marmara (the straight is now known as the Dardanelles located in present day Turkey; the ruins of Sestos remain on the Gallipoli Peninsula). At the time of the mythical story, however, in the centuries B.C., the region belonged to Greece and so sat Sestos along the Hellespont. Directly on the other side of the straight was another town called Abydos where a young man by the name of Leander lived. Leander fell in love with the fair Hero and so swam the roughly two mile distance across the Hellespont every night to be with his sweetheart; and every night Hero would shine a light from her tower to help guide his way. One particularly stormy night, however, the wind extinguished Hero’s light and Leander lost his way, finally drowning in the turbulent waves. His body washed ashore the next morning and, upon seeing the corpse of her lover, the grief-stricken Hero jumped from the tower, throwing herself into the sea to be with her beloved for eternity. Early Roman poets Virgil and Ovid pay tribute to the story of Hero and Leander in their poetry. English dramatists Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare were also inspired by the Greek legend as were poets John Keats and Lord Byron. In fact, Lord Byron actually swam the Hellespont in the early 19th century, recreating Leander’s exact passageway to his lover. How romantic! Leander was indeed a “lion of men” as evidenced by the strength required of one to swim such a distance night after night. Sadly, Leander has lost his way on the naming charts in modern times, but Leandro is a moderately popular name in Chili and France.
All About the Baby Name – Leandro
Personality
OF THE BOY NAME LEANDRO
Romance is the hallmark of the Six personality. They exude nurturing, loving, and caring energy. Sixes are in love with the idea of love in its idealized form - and with their magnetic personalities, they easily draw people toward them. Like the number Two personality, they seek balance and harmony in their life and the world at large. They are conscientious and service-oriented, and a champion for the underdog. These personalities naturally attract money and are usually surrounded by lovely material objects - but their human relationships are always primary. They thrive in giving back to others rather than being motivated by their own desires. This is when they achieve great things. Sixes are natural teachers, ministers and counselors.
Popularity
OF THE BOY NAME LEANDRO
You’d be hard pressed to find a name more romantic than Leandro, yet oddly enough the name only first appeared on the Top 1000 list of American baby boy names in 2005. For such an ancient name, that’s not long at all. It seems the sudden usage of Leandro has been inspired by Brazilian-born basketball player Leandro Barbosa of the Boston Celtics (formerly for the Phoenix Suns). A swift mover on the court, Barbosa is known as “The Brazilian Blur” but back home in Brazil they called him “Leandrinho” (Little Leandro). Despite this sports-culture influence, Leandro remains a highly uncommon name choice nationwide; not to mention that Leander dropped off the male charts back in 1969. Leandro obviously has some romantic and star-crossed love appeal thanks to those imaginative ancient Greeks and their mythologies, but this is a name with religious cachet as well. San Leandro de Seville was a 6th century Bishop of Seville who played an instrumental role in converting the Visigothic kings to Roman Catholicism – a potentially pivotal event in the history of the Iberian Peninsula. Those with Spanish and Portuguese (and even Italian) heritage would be more familiar with San Leandro (Saint Leander of Seville to the English). There’s a town in Northern California called San Leandro named after this saint by early Spanish settlers; it sits across the bay from San Francisco. Overall this is one of the coolest names we’ve uncovered in our research, and we love the fact that Leandro is a number 6 in numerology (the romantic number); how perfect is that? We hope Leandro’s recent debut on the U.S. naming charts is foreshadowing the return of Leander as well!
Quick Facts
ON LEANDRO
GENDER:
Boy
ORIGIN:
Greek
NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:
3
RANKING POPULARITY:
786
PRONUNCIATION:
lee-AHN-dro
SIMPLE MEANING:
Lion of men
Characteristics
OF LEANDRO
