Lionel

Latin
"young lion"

Lionel Origin and Meaning

The name Lionel is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "young lion".

Lionel is one leonine name that hasn't taken off as cousins Leo and Leonardo have, though it did reenter the Top 1000 in 2010 after several years away; it was at its highest point in the 1920s and 1930s.

This French diminutive of Leon has had many worthy namesakes over time, including Sir Lionel, a Knight of the Round Table, actor Barrymore, critic Trilling, musicians Hampton and Richie, Argentine Olympic footballer Messi, and characters in numerous movies and TV shows such as gruff but loveable Lionel Hardcastle in the Judi Dench comedy As Time Goes By. Real life Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue was portrayed in The King's Speech.

Lionel Barrymore, of the famed theatrical family, was a mainstay of Golden Age Hollywood films, and kids might like the association to Lionel trains.

This is a timeless choice worth considering.

# 494 in the US

Lionel Rank in US Top 1000

# 661 on Nameberry

Lionel Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Lionel Popularity

Famous People Named Lionel

  • Lionel Brockman Richie
    American R&B singer,songwriter
  • Lionel Leo Hampton
    American jazz musician
  • Lionel Dotson
    American football player
  • Lionel Andrés Messi (Cuccittini)
    Argentine footballer
  • Lionel Herbert Barrymore
    American actor
  • Lionel Jospin
    Prime Minister of France
  • Lionel Charles Hamilton Palairet
    English cricketer
  • Lionel Eugene Hollins
    American basketball player
  • Lionel Bart
    British composer
  • Lionel George Logue
    Australian speech therapist who treated King George VI; portrayed in movie "The King's Speech"
  • Lionel Edmund Rose
    Australian boxer
  • Lionel of Antwerp
    1st Duke of Clarence, son of King Edward III of England
  • Lionel Charles Jeffries
    English actor
  • Lionel Blair (born Henry Lionel Ogus)
    British actor and dancer
  • Lionel Frost Bowen
    6th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
  • Lionel Jay Stander
    American actor
  • Lionel James "L
    Train" Simmons, American basketball player
  • Lionel Thomas Taylor
    American NFl football player
  • Lionel Allen Sheldon
    U.S. Congressman and governor of New Mexico Territory

Lionel in Pop Culture

  • Sir Lionel
    knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend
  • Lionel Hutz
    character on TV's "The Simpsons"
  • Lionel Lockridge
    character on American soap "Santa Barbara"
  • Lionel Skeggins
    character on New Zealand soap "Shortland Street"
  • "The Story of Lionel and Arabella
    " English fictional work of 1756
  • Lionel Luthor
    character on TV's "Smallville"
  • Lionel Jefferson
    character on TV's "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons"
  • Professor Lionel Stokesay
    fictional archaeologist in "Anglo,Saxon Attitudes" (1956) by Angus Wilson
  • Lionel Fusco
    character on TV's "Person of Interest"
  • Lionel Dresden
    character in film "Because I Said So"
  • Lionel Vickars
    main character in G. A. Henty's "By England's Aid"
  • Lionel Bishop
    character in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom
  • Lionel
    lion character in Disney's "Dumbo's Circus"
  • Lionel
    brand of toy trains
  • Lionel
    Warhammer