Leslie
A Scottish place name and clan surname, from Gaelic elements for a garden or holly land.
Popularity, 1880–2025
Leslie appears in the national records from the very first year, 1880. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American girls in 41 different years between 1953 and 2004. Its biggest year was 1957, when 6,103 newborn girls received the name, ranking it No. 77 nationally. Its best ranking came in 1981, at No. 56. In 2025 it ranked No. 712 for girls. The name has also seen real use for boys: 112,989 of the 383,418 Americans given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other spellings on record: Lesley (39,098), Lesly (15,785), Lesli (5,799), Leslee (5,001), Leslye (2,446), Lezlie (2,399) (total births since 1880)
Explore Leslie interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 126 | No. 503 |
| 1890s | 257 | No. 463 |
| 1900s | 324 | No. 528 |
| 1910s | 785 | No. 570 |
| 1920s | 1,241 | No. 587 |
| 1930s | 1,447 | No. 480 |
| 1940s | 14,856 | No. 130 |
| 1950s | 43,049 | No. 77 |
| 1960s | 54,453 | No. 64 |
| 1970s | 44,839 | No. 63 |
| 1980s | 38,729 | No. 56 |
| 1990s | 26,769 | No. 100 |
| 2000s | 31,055 | No. 84 |
| 2010s | 9,752 | No. 199 |
| 2020s | 2,747 | No. 595 |
Births and rank shown for girls, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.
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Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.