Leonard

Leonard descends from the Old German Leonhard, "brave as a lion," a name carried by a sixth-century Frankish saint who became patron of prisoners. It spread into Polish usage through German and Latin ecclesiastical channels. The twentieth century filled the name with specific weight: Leonard Bernstein at the podium, Leonard Cohen hunched over a guitar, Leonardo da Vinci always lingering in the long shadow. Two syllables, the sturdy n anchoring the middle. The nickname Leo has eclipsed the full form in recent years, pulling Leonard along with it back onto baby-name lists. Warmly intellectual, gently romantic, and structurally durable.