How common is the surname Leslie?

25,078 people in the United States had the surname Leslie in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 12,311 Americans. It ranked 1,417th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Leslie?

Lisa Leslie, American basketball player (born 1972), followed by Joan Leslie.

Where is the surname Leslie most common?

Wikidata records people named Leslie in the United States, Ireland and Belize and 1 other country.

How do you pronounce Leslie?

Leslie is /ˈlɛzli/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Leslie getting more or less common?

More common. 24,266 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 25,078 in 2010, up 3.3%.

Is Leslie also a first name?

Yes. Leslie is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Leslie

A Scottish Gaelic place surname, carried by 25,078 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈlɛzli/ 2 syllables Soundex L240 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Leslie is more common than 99.1% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

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

Leslie is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 25,078 people named Leslie in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 12,311 Americans. That is up 3.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 24,266.

#1,417

rank among US surnames

25,078

people in 2010

8.5

per 100,000 Americans

+3.3%

change since 2000 (was #1,335)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,408	Mayes	25,256	12,225
#1,409	Zheng	25,242	12,231
#1,410	Albright	25,189	12,257
#1,411	Burgos	25,169	12,267
#1,412	Swain	25,157	12,273
#1,413	Manley	25,136	12,283
#1,414	Helton	25,118	12,292

Who is named Leslie

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

73% of people named Leslie identified as white (not Hispanic), 19% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 73%
Black (not Hispanic) 19%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.1%
Two or more races 2.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.1%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Leslies

18 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Lisa Leslie
American basketball player (born 1972)
Joan Leslie
American actress (1925-2015)
John Leslie
American pornographic actor and film director (1945-2010)
Conor Leslie
American actress, born 1991
Bethel Leslie
American actress (1929-1999)
Frederick W. Leslie
American astronaut, born 1951
Ryan Leslie
American singer, songwriter and record producer, born 1978
Javicia Leslie
American actress, born 1987
Nan Leslie
American actress (1926-2000)
Gladys Leslie
American actress (1899-1976)
Travis Leslie
American basketball player (born 1990)
Shane Leslie
Anglo-Irish nationalist writer, 1885–1971

Notable Leslies come mostly from the United States (15), Ireland (1) and Belize (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Lesley

Surnames that sound like Leslie

Leslie has the Soundex code L240, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code L240.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Leslie come from?: From a placename in Aberdeenshire, originally Lesslyn, Scottish Gaelic lios cuileann (“garden of hollies”).
How common is the surname Leslie?: 25,078 people in the United States had the surname Leslie in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 12,311 Americans. It ranked 1,417th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Leslie?: In the 2010 Census, 73% of people named Leslie identified as white (not Hispanic), and 19% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Leslie?: Lisa Leslie, American basketball player (born 1972), followed by Joan Leslie.
Where is the surname Leslie most common?: Wikidata records people named Leslie in the United States, Ireland and Belize and 1 other country.
How do you pronounce Leslie?: Leslie is /ˈlɛzli/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Leslie?: Leslie is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Leslie getting more or less common?: More common. 24,266 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 25,078 in 2010, up 3.3%.
What are other spellings of Leslie?: Lesley.
Is Leslie also a first name?: Yes. Leslie is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.