Leslie
Means “garden of hollies”*
Girl’s name · from a surname · /ˈlɛzli/
What Leslie means
Means “garden of hollies”
From a placename in Aberdeenshire, originally Lesslyn, Scottish Gaelic lios cuileann (“garden of hollies”).
Source: Wiktionary, “Leslie” (revision 93487312), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.
How popular is Leslie?
▼ 107 vs 2024
US: Falling: down from #371 in 2015.
Biggest US share so far: 1969, when 5,836 girls got the name (#64 that year). First in the US records in 1880.
How common
- About 1 in 4,090 baby girls in the US in 2025
“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.
Where in the US
Most popular in MD (0.65 per 1,000 girls), IL (0.56 per 1,000 girls), KY (0.52 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.
SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.
US vs UK
Leslie is #712 in the US. It is not in the England & Wales list for 2025.
| Rank 2025 | Babies | How common | Rank 2015 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | #712 | 393 | 1 in 4,090 | #371 |
| England & Wales | – | – | – | – |
| Scotland | – | – | – | – |
Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).
Boy or girl?
In 2025, 92.5% of US babies named Leslie were girls.
| Girls | Boys | |
|---|---|---|
| US 2025 | 393 | 32 |
| England & Wales 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| US all years since 1880 | 270,429 | 112,989 |
| England & Wales since 1996 | 19 | 300 |
Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.
How to say it
IPA from Wiktionary.
Spelling variants on Wiktionary
- Lesley
Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.
If you like Leslie
Girls
- Brooke#313Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1996, with 6,724 babies; 972 in 2025
- Haley#861“hay field”*
- Paige#346possibly “servant”*
- Taylor#403From the word “tailor”*
- Mallory#372“unhappy, unlucky”*
- Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”*
For a brother
- Devin#548“fortuneteller”*
- Tyler#219“tiler”*
- Lance#862Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1970, with 4,160 babies; 279 in 2025
- Ryan#99Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 29,905 babies; 3,532 in 2025
- Brandon#261“broom shrub + hill, dune”*
- Colby#615“charcoal + settlement”*
Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Leslie’s. Rank is US 2025.
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