# Leigh (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/leigh/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Middle English, variant of Lee.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 10,213 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,499 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 30,231 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.7% (9,756 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /liː/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Lee |

## Etymology

From the nominative case of Old English lēah (“wood, meadow”), 'dweller by the wood or clearing'.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Leigh in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 77% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 15% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 2.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Leigh in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

## People named Leigh

- Vivien Leigh, British actress (1913–1967)
- Janet Leigh, American actress (1927–2004)
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, American actress (born 1962)
- Chyler Leigh, American actress, singer and model
- Cherami Leigh, American actress
- Suzanna Leigh, British actress (1945-2017)
- Carol Leigh, American artist and activist and sex workers' rights activist (1951–2022)
- Simone Leigh, African American artist (born 1967)
- Dorian Leigh, American model (1917–2008)
- Katie Leigh, American voice actress
- Richard Leigh, American writer (1943–2007)
- Nelson Leigh, American actor (1905-1985)

and 9 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Li, Le, Lei, Legg, Leis, Lesh, Lech, Lewis, Leach, Lugo, Lake, Locke.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.