Fred Patten (an anime expert) writes that 'Leo' was disliked by the American editors (Fred Ladd & co.) for several reasons, among them, the MGM lion held that same name (Watching Anime, Reading Manga, 155). Ladd himself gives that same reason, but the African name for lion is 'Simba' & this he said could not be used as a trademark (Astroboy and Anime come to the Americas, 52). So somebody's daughter was named 'Kim' & he suggested 'Kimba' (53).
BTW, Ladd's book contains a detailed Outline for Jungle Emperor that includes brief descriptions of the setting, characters, etc.
Leo/Kimba essay
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by KimbaWLion » Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:15 pm
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KimbaWLion
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by KimbaWLion » Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:31 am
I don't want to take away from , but you can read Fred Patten's article (written with Robin Leyden) . That link takes you to the part about the name changes. The text in red represents my updates to the now nearly-20-year-old article. Basically, the story is the same, since the ultimate source is still Fred Ladd, but the article as it stands now also debunks a different story about the change from Leo to Kimba, a story that still gets repeated at times.
Patten and Leyden also include the show outline. Mr. Ladd made the language of the outline somewhat smoother in his book.
As for the names in my pages on the 1989 series, since Pioneer used "Kimba" for their tapes of this series, I kept that, even though he's always been Leo in every Japanese version. The other names are pretty close to the Japanese. The story is so very different from the earlier versions that it wouldn't seem right to use all the American character names.
Patten and Leyden also include the show outline. Mr. Ladd made the language of the outline somewhat smoother in his book.
As for the names in my pages on the 1989 series, since Pioneer used "Kimba" for their tapes of this series, I kept that, even though he's always been Leo in every Japanese version. The other names are pretty close to the Japanese. The story is so very different from the earlier versions that it wouldn't seem right to use all the American character names.
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KimbaWLion
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by KimbaWLion » Mon Nov 16, 2009 3:00 am
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by KimbaWLion » Mon Nov 16, 2009 3:12 am
A little bit more digging did turn up proof that the article was first published in 1981, but it was updated and republished in other fanzines several times, and the version I have dates from 1991 (although I have updated it myself much more recently, my changes are in red text). I will clarify the publishing note on my page in the morning.
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I know the LK was not made until the 1990s! 
by KimbaWLion » Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:29 pm
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by KimbaWLion » Wed Nov 18, 2009 11:12 am
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