Leonardo

Leonardo walks in trailing marble dust and oil paint. The name is the Italian elaboration of the Germanic Leonhard, from leon and hard, lion-strong, and belongs permanently to da Vinci, the original Renaissance polymath, who alone would have been enough. DiCaprio then gave it a second life across the late twentieth century. In the United States it has climbed into the top 85, buoyed by Latino naming traditions where Leonardo has long been a favorite. The four syllables carry real length, but the rhythm is operatic rather than unwieldy, rolling easily in both English and Spanish. Artistic, ambitious, faintly heroic, Leonardo arrives already cast for the role.