ninan.org

Leslie

Girls' name · Mid-century

Living in the US
~297,200 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#712 among girls
Births in 2025
425 383,418 since 1880
Typical age
53 years, median

Leslie popularity over time

Leslie rank by birth year, 1880–2025Leslie ranked #628 in 1880 and #712 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #56, in 1981.#100#1,000#712best #56 in 198118901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

Leslie was used most in 1957, when 8,199 babies were given the name. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. It has held a top-100 place in 41 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #712 with 425 births. The ten-year change is -55%. Year on year the rank dropped by 107.

Babies named Leslie per yearPeaks at 8,199 births in 1957.8,199 in 1957018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Leslie?

Roughly 297,200 Leslies are alive in the US right now. SSA has recorded 383,418 births under the name since 1880. The split is about 244,900 women and 52,300 men.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Leslie?

The typical living Leslie is 53 years old. The 1960s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Leslie a mid-century name.

Your Leslie

Ages of living people named LeslieHalf of living Leslies are older than 53 and half younger.median 53020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Leslie is most common

Leslie is 1.8× as common in California as it is nationally. Texas, Illinois and Oklahoma follow.

Where Leslie is used more than average5 states use the name Leslie more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: 1.5× the national rateILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.8× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: 1.3× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: 1.4× the national rateOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: 1.6× the national rateTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Leslie is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
California 1,130 1.8×
Texas 902 1.6×
Illinois 262 1.5×
Oklahoma 78 1.4×
Maryland 106 1.3×

Is Leslie a boy's or a girl's name?

71% girls29% boys
Share of all recorded US births under this name, 1880 to the latest year.

Across the whole record, 70.5% of births under the name were girls. The name has changed sides: it began mostly on one sex and ends mostly on the other.

Leslie in England and Wales

ONS recorded 5 births named Leslie in 2025, ranking it #3,684. That is 67% higher than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Leslie comes from

From a placename in Aberdeenshire, originally Lesslyn, Scottish Gaelic lios cuileann (“garden of hollies”).

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Leslie

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Leslie Nielsen Canadian-American actor and comedian 1926–2010 78
Leslie Caron French and American actress and dancer 1931 53
Leslie Mann American actress 1972 52
Leslie Cheung Hong Kong singer and actor 1956–2003 50
Leslie Howard British actor 1893–1943 46
Leslie Lamport American computer scientist 1941 43
Leslie Bibb American actress 1973 43
Leslie Groves United States Army Corps of Engineers officer 1896–1970 42
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 358 in 1911 to 742 in 1912 — 2.1 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Leslie

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/leslie.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).