Leigh
Masculine · “a clearing in the woods”
Leigh is given to both — 5,107 boys and 40,242 girls since 1880. See Leigh as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Leigh is the only member of its family that stands alone. The Old English leah — a clearing in woodland — ends thousands of place names and a great many personal ones, but almost always as a suffix: Ashley, Bradley, Hadley, Kayleigh. Leigh is the word by itself, and it has been a name in its own right for a century.
How old is the name Leigh?
Leigh first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Leigh alive today was born around 1955, making them about 70 years old. About 3,200 people named Leigh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leigh most popular?
Leigh peaked in 1955, reaching #654 nationally. See the whole 1955 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From leah to Leigh
The story of Leigh
The surname Leigh belongs to families who lived at one of the many places called that, and it became a given name in the twentieth century — helped considerably by an actress born Vivian Hartley who took Leigh as a stage surname and then became internationally famous. The name went to girls and boys both, and its most useful modern life has been as a middle name: it is a single open syllable, it attaches to almost anything, and it is the ending in every -leigh name in the country.
Meaning
a clearing in the woods
Old English leah names a clearing, a glade or a piece of open ground within woodland, and it is one of the most productive elements in English place naming because clearing woodland was one of the most productive activities in early England. The derivation is not disputed. Leigh is the spelling that survived in place names and surnames; -ley is the same word in the same position, spelled differently.
How the name formed
- leah
- Leigh
Pronouncing Leigh
LEE
LEE, one syllable, rhyming with see. The gh is silent — it recorded a consonant that Old and Middle English had and modern English lost, the same one that has gone quiet in night and through.
Nicknames for Leigh
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 1955126 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #654reached in 1955
- Change vs 2020
- −44.4%5 in 2023, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Leighs among us
people named Leigh are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Leigh sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- One syllable and a completely settled sound, impossible to mispronounce.
- It works for either child, and has done throughout its history.
- The Old English word behind it is concrete and is still visible on every English map.
- Lee is the far more common spelling of the same sound and will be substituted constantly.
- Five letters for one syllable means the gh has to be dictated every time.
- A single syllable against a short surname lands abruptly, which is part of why the name works better in the middle.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Leigh to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Leigh? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Leigh
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Leighs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Leigh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Leigh in 2025?
- Leigh is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Leigh with classmates?
- Leigh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Larry#1084 · Lawrence#518 · Louis#249 · Logan#53 · Liam#1 · Lucas#10 · Luke#33 · Leonard#637
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Leigh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Leigh and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle