Entry № 5859 · Greek origin

Leto Leto — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ LEH-toh /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Greek
Meaning
"Modest (Greek Titaness; mother of Apollo and Artemis)"
Syllables
2
First recorded
Ancient (Greek)

A name that means "modest (greek titaness; mother of apollo and artemis)".

Leto (Λητώ) is from the Lycian lada (woman, wife) — the Greek Titaness daughter of Coeus and Phoebe. Mother by Zeus of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis — pursued by a jealous Hera through every country and forbidden refuge on any land; at last gave birth on the floating island of Delos, which Zeus secured with chains to the seabed for the event. Artemis was born first and immediately helped her mother deliver Apollo — for which Artemis became the goddess of childbirth. Worshipped throughout Lycia (now southern Turkey) as a primary regional goddess.

Featured in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo and Callimachus's Hymn to Delos.

Modest. Mother of Apollo and Artemis; gave birth on the floating island of Delos.

The name in its native script.

Λητώ
Transliteration
Lētṓ
Pronunciation
/ ˈliː.toʊ /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Leto stands.

Leto does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Letos before her.

Real people
Leto
Greek Titaness.
In fiction
Leto
Homeric Hymn to Apollo.

Names connected to Leto.

The number behind Leto.

7

The Seeker

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Leto reduce to 7, The Seeker. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.