Girl or boy · Scottish place name
Leslie
Say it: LEZ-lee
Meaning
From a Scottish place in Aberdeenshire and the family named for it; the original Gaelic meaning is uncertain, and 'grey fortress' or 'holly garden' are unproven guesses.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Mostly a boys' name until the 1940s, then used mostly for girls in the US.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1960s
In the United States
- 380,951 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1969, about 1 in 289 girls
- 505 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Lesley
Famous bearers
- Leslie Howard, British actor
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.