Leon is a name in several Germanic languages meaning "thunder," and is used as both a given name and a surname. In a Greek or Spanish context, the name Leon means "lion".

A common Francophone given name and surname, it comes from the Latin "leo" meaning lion. The Italian version of the name is still Leo, whereas in French-speaking areas, Léo is a diminutive for Léonard or Léopold.

Leon (unaccented English version) or Léon (French version) or León (Spanish version) may refer to:

• Léon Abel Provancher, (1820-1892), French-Canadian Catholic parish priest and naturalist
• León Aillaud, French Interim Governor of Veracruz México (1911)
• Léon Arthur Elchinger, French Catholic priest, Bishop of Strasbourg from 1967 to 1984
• Léon Augustin Lhermitte, (1844-1925), French painter and etcher of the 19th century
• Leon E. Bates, Leon Bates (UAW Leader) was UAW union orginizer, he was one of the first african americans to ever serve in that position
• Leon Battista Alberti, Italian Renaissance humanist polymath
• Léon Bloy, French novelist, essayist, pamphleteer and poet
• Léon Blum, French politician, founder of the Popular Front, former Prime Minister of France
• Léon Boëllmann, French composer for the organ
• Léon Breitling, Swiss watchmaker and businessman
• Leon Camier, English motorcycle racer
• Léon Dierx, French poet of the Parnasse movement
• Leon Czolgosz, American anarchist, assassin of U.S. President William McKinley
• Léon Dion, French-Canadian political scientist
• Leon Durham, baseball player
• Leon Doucette, American artist
• Leon Edel, literary critic and Pulitzer Prize winning biographer
• León Felipe, León Felipe Camino Galicia (1884 - 1968), Spanish poet
• Léon Foucault, born Jean Bernard Léon Foucault (18 September 1819 – 11 February 1868), French physicist invented the Foucault pendulum, made an early measurement of the speed of light, invented the gyroscope, and discovered eddy currents
• Léon Gambetta, French statesman, 45th Prime Minister of France
• Léon Gaumont, French inventor, engineer and industrialist, pioneer of the motion picture industry, founder of the Gaumont Film Company
• Léon Gérin, French-Canadian scientist who gave his name to the Prix Léon-Gérin
• León Gieco, born Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco (November 20, 1951, Santa Fe, Argentina), pop-folk music composer and interpreter
• Leon Haslam, English motorcycle racer.
• Leon Jackson, winner of X-Factor 2007
• Leon Lai, Cantopop singer, and also his 1990 debut album, Leon
• Leon Lederman, American experimental physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1988 for his work on neutrinos
• Leon Lentic, Bosnian playwright
• Leon Edward Panetta, (born June 28, 1938), former White House Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton
• Leon Justin Parsaud, Guyanese researcher
• Léon Pétillon, Belgian civil servant and governor-general of Belgian Congo from 1952 to 1958
• Leon Raydon, Danish Philosopher from 1973 and international business man. Specialized in advanced quantum physics and macroeconomy
• Leon Robinson, African-American actor and singer, often credited simply as Leon
• Leon Russell, Claude Russell Bridges (born 1942), singer, songwriter, pianist, and guitarist
• Léon Say, French economist and statesman
• Léon Schlienger, French WWI veteran and songwriter known as Noël Regney
• Léon Schwartzenberg, French oncologist, leading cancer specialist, former government minister
• Léon Spilliaert, Belgian painter
• Leon Spinks, boxer
• Leon Sullivan (1922-2001), civil rights leader and social activist
• Leon Trotsky, (Russian: Лев Давидович Троцкий), Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist
• Leon Uris, (August 3, 1924 - June 21, 2003), American novelist
• Léon Walras, Marie-Esprit-Léon Walras (1834 - 1910), French mathematical economist
• Leon White, Vader, American wrestler
• Léon Zitrone, French journalist and television presenter
• Leon Reason,Famous english artist and cricketer.