Leslie

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested in 1 language in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Leslie is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name543K records spelled Leslie54 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Mexico, Peru

  Languages: Spanish, French, Catalan

  Also written Lëslië, Leslié, Leslie', Léslie, Leslïe

• a separate given name153K records spelled Leslie5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India

  Also written Léslie, Leslíe, Lesliê, Leslié

88 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Leslie is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, From the lands of Lesslyn in Garioch; associated with Malcolm son of Bartholf. Robert de Lieslie recorded from 1272.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In French, Scottish surname used as a given name, from a place name of uncertain origin.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In English, Scottish: from an ancient Gaelic surname; used for boy or girl.

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, Scottish Gaelic; meadowlands, from a place name

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In the early history of this name, one can see the process of acculturation at work. The lands of Lesslyn in the Garioch district were granted between 1171 and 1199 to the Gaelicnamed Malcolm, son of the Flemish-named Bartholf. The implication is that Bartholf had married a local woman of Celtic ancestry. Robert de Lieslie is recorded from 1272.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Erik Satieb. 1866FRnot in their usual nameFrench composer and pianist (1866-1925)
• Leslie Howardb. 1893GBBritish actor (1893–1943)
• Bob Hopeb. 1903GBnot in their usual nameAmerican entertainer (1903–2003)
• Gerald Fordb. 1913USnot in their usual namepresident of the United States from 1974 to 1977 (1913–2006)
• Leslie Caronb. 1931FRFrench and American actress and dancer (born 1931)
• Bruce McLarenb. 1937NZnot in their usual nameNew Zealand racecar driver, designer and team owner (1937-1970)
• Howard Shoreb. 1946CAnot in their usual nameCanadian film score composer (born 1946)
• Mark Hughesb. 1963GBnot in their usual nameWelsh football manager
• Leslie Mannb. 1972USAmerican actress
• Leslie Odom Jr.b. 1981USAmerican actor and singer (born 1981)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,497 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Leslie?

We estimate roughly 268 thousand people bear Leslie (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Leslie have the most bearers?

We estimate about 238 thousand people bear Leslie in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled leslie.

How common is Leslie compared with other names?

In the United States, Leslie is the 169th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Leslie a male or female name?

Leslie is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Leslie mean?

Recorded meaning: ‘person from Leslie’ in the former county of Aberdeenshire, meaning ‘court of hollies’.