Leslie
Masculine · “garden of hollies”
Leslie is given to both — 112,989 boys and 270,429 girls since 1880. See Leslie as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Leslie is a place in Aberdeenshire that became a Scottish clan, then a surname, then a boy's name, and finally — in America — a girl's name. It made every one of those moves in about four hundred years.
How old is the name Leslie?
Leslie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Leslie alive today was born around 1945, making them about 80 years old. About 52,500 people named Leslie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leslie most popular?
Leslie peaked in 1895, reaching #81 nationally. Today it ranks #3513, 3,432 places below that high. See the whole 1895 chart.
Leslie appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Lesslyn to Leslie
The story of Leslie
The Leslie family took its name from lands in Aberdeenshire and became one of the significant Scottish houses, which is how the place name became a surname and the surname a given name — a normal route in Scotland, where clan names were used for sons. It was masculine in Britain throughout the nineteenth century and stood in the American top ninety for boys in the 1890s. The shift to girls came later and was decisive, which is the usual direction for names that cross.
Meaningscholars disagree
garden of hollies
From the Scottish place name Lesslyn. The usual reading is a Gaelic leas celyn, 'garden of holly', but the first element may instead be a word for a fort or an enclosure, and the second is not certain either. What is documented is the place; the words behind it are argued about.
How the name formed
- Lesslyn
- Leslie
Related forms: Lesley · Lesly
Pronouncing Leslie
LEZ-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. British speakers often say LESS-lee with a clearer s; both are current.
Nicknames for Leslie
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19512,298 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #81reached in 1895
- Change vs 2022
- −3.0%32 in 2025, from 33
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.
Leslie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lesley in Scottish — spelling variant
- Lesly in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Ohio, Texas.
Leslies among us
people named Leslie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 53,377 born in 2025 was named Leslie
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Leslie sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Leslie is headed
Leslie should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Leslie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Leslie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Scottish place and clan behind it, which gives the name a fixed point in the record.
- It works for either sex, and did so for a long time before the American shift.
- Les is a short, plain form available immediately.
- In America the name now reads as feminine to most people, whatever its history.
- Leslie and Lesley are both established, and in Britain the spelling has traditionally marked the sex.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Leslie 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 Leslie? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Leslie
Masculine · #3513 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Leslies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 52,500 people named Leslie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Leslie in 2025?
- Leslie ranks #3513 among US boy names in 2025, with 32 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Leslie?
- About 1 in every 53,377 US boys born in 2025 was named Leslie — 32 in all.
- Will my child share the name Leslie with classmates?
- Leslie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Leslie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Denton#3513 · Harden#3513 · Geronimo#3513 · Breon#3513 · Hashem#3513 · Jamere#3513 · Hazael#3513 · Bradford#3513
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Leslie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Leslie 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