# Leslie (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/leslie/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “garden of hollies” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈlɛzli/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Les, Lez |
| Variant spellings | Lesley |
| US babies named this | 383,418 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 112,989 / 270,429 (71% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 319, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From a placename in Aberdeenshire, originally Lesslyn, Scottish Gaelic lios cuileann (“garden of hollies”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,286 | 247 |
| 2012 | 1,226 | 266 |
| 2013 | 1,111 | 288 |
| 2014 | 1,000 | 338 |
| 2015 | 880 | 371 |
| 2016 | 807 | 414 |
| 2017 | 704 | 449 |
| 2018 | 601 | 521 |
| 2019 | 572 | 536 |
| 2020 | 488 | 596 |
| 2021 | 477 | 625 |
| 2022 | 453 | 653 |
| 2023 | 440 | 670 |
| 2024 | 496 | 606 |
| 2025 | 393 | 712 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 54 | 2,364 |
| 2012 | 50 | 2,508 |
| 2013 | 36 | 3,100 |
| 2014 | 61 | 2,222 |
| 2015 | 56 | 2,338 |
| 2016 | 45 | 2,708 |
| 2017 | 45 | 2,742 |
| 2018 | 38 | 3,081 |
| 2019 | 50 | 2,610 |
| 2020 | 26 | 3,982 |
| 2021 | 33 | 3,462 |
| 2022 | 33 | 3,505 |
| 2023 | 40 | 3,094 |
| 2024 | 41 | 3,024 |
| 2025 | 32 | 3,563 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 5 | 2,683 |
| 2000 | 3 | 3,912 |
| 2002 | 3 | 4,137 |
| 2003 | 5 | 3,099 |
| 2005 | 3 | 4,798 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 9 | 2,097 |
| 2009 | 9 | 2,126 |
| 2010 | 10 | 2,036 |
| 2011 | 10 | 2,039 |
| 2012 | 6 | 3,039 |
| 2013 | 10 | 2,055 |
| 2014 | 5 | 3,362 |
| 2015 | 7 | 2,707 |
| 2016 | 4 | 4,023 |
| 2017 | 7 | 2,734 |
| 2018 | 6 | 3,011 |
| 2020 | 3 | 4,608 |
| 2021 | 4 | 3,990 |
| 2024 | 10 | 2,263 |
| 2025 | 5 | 3,684 |

## In other languages

- Esperanto: Lesli
- French: Leslie
- Greek: Λέσλι
- Japanese: レスリー
- Russian: Ле́сли

## People named Leslie

- Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor and comedian (1926–2010)
- Leslie Caron, French and American actress and dancer (born 1931)
- Leslie Mann, American actress
- Leslie Howard, British actor (1893–1943)
- Leslie Lamport, American computer scientist
- Leslie Bibb, American actress
- Leslie Jordan, American actor (1955–2022)
- Leslie Phillips, British actor (1924–2022)
- Leslie Uggams, American actress and singer
- Leslie Odom Jr., American actor and singer (born 1981)
- Leslie White, American anthropologist (1900–1975)
- Leslie Grossman, American actress

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.