Leslie
Leslie was the 712th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 393 babies. Its best year was 1981, when it ranked 56th; the most babies were born in 1957 (6,103). Over the last ten years it has moved down 341 places. More babies were named Leslie in the 1960s than in any other decade.
Meaning garden of hollies (Scottish place name) · Scottish Gaelic
Say it LEZ-lee /ˈlɛzli/
- Rank in 2025
- #712 girls, down 116 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 393girls
- Girls and boys
- 93% girls, 7% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19576,103 babies
- Total since 1880
- 383,418babies recorded
What does the name Leslie mean?
Leslie is a Scottish surname from a place name in Aberdeenshire. Wiktionary gives the older form Lesslyn and explains it as Scottish Gaelic lios cuileann, garden or enclosure of hollies. The surname then became a boys' name. Wiktionary notes that its use for girls is mostly American. In the US both sexes have used it since records began in 1880.
lios (Scottish Gaelic, “enclosure, garden”)cuileann (Scottish Gaelic, “holly”)
How sure is this? Probable. Wiktionary only; place-name etymologies of this kind are often uncertain.
Related names: Lesley, Les, Lesli.
See also: Scottish names, names that mean tree, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Leslie' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Nicknames for Leslie
The usual nicknames for Leslie are Les.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Les · also for Lester | Traditional | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Leslies go by each one.
Leslie popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #712 | #3,563 | 393 | 32 |
| 2020 | #596 | #3,982 | 488 | 26 |
| 2010 | #199 | #2,613 | 1,565 | 47 |
| 2000 | #90 | #1,050 | 3,623 | 137 |
| 1990 | #115 | #584 | 2,827 | 295 |
| 1980 | #61 | #354 | 4,776 | 507 |
| 1970 | #64 | #234 | 5,622 | 1,013 |
| 1960 | #92 | #185 | 5,242 | 1,672 |
| 1950 | #134 | #126 | 2,329 | 2,132 |
| 1940 | #427 | #136 | 254 | 1,370 |
| 1930 | #604 | #139 | 132 | 1,237 |
| 1920 | #759 | #110 | 92 | 1,592 |
| 1910 | #574 | #102 | 52 | 313 |
| 1900 | #646 | #91 | 30 | 275 |
| 1890 | #590 | #96 | 20 | 181 |
| 1880 | #655 | #167 | 8 | 79 |
How popular is Leslie, counting every spelling?
Leslie is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #518 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #712 for Leslie on its own. Together these spellings went to 585 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leslie | 393 | #712 | 2,259 |
| Lesly | 149 | #1,448 | 853 |
| Lesley | 30 | #4,617 | 186 |
| Lesli | 13 | #8,138 | 77 |
| Leslee | — | — | 34 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Leslie?
393 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Leslie (0.11 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Leslie born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 21 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Leslie.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Leslie?
About 240,200 people born in the US named Leslie are alive today, with a median age of 50; half are between 33 and 63. That makes Leslie mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Leslie by state
How common Leslie was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in California (1.9×), Texas (1.7×), Illinois (1.7×). In 17 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Leslie: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Leslie, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Leslie · Sibling names for Leslie
Questions about the name Leslie
What does Leslie mean?
Leslie means “garden of hollies (Scottish place name)” (Scottish Gaelic origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Leslie?
Leslie was the 712th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 393 babies. Its best year was 1981, when it ranked 56th; the most babies were born in 1957 (6,103). Over the last ten years it has moved down 341 places. More babies were named Leslie in the 1960s than in any other decade.
Is Leslie a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 93% girls, 7% boys given the name Leslie in the US.
Where is Leslie most popular?
In 2021–2025, Leslie was most common in California (0.54 per 1,000 girls), followed by Texas and Illinois.