Leslie

Meaning: Garden of hollies
Origin: Scottish Gaelic

Girl's name · #712 in the US (2025) · Retro

Popularity over time

Leslie reached its best rank, #56, in 1981 and ranked #712 in 2025. Roughly 270,000 girls have been named Leslie since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Leslie is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 32 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Leslie ranks in other countries and regions.

#214 in Ecuador (2025) · #253 in Mexico (2024) · #1,388 in France (2025) · #979 in Canada (2024).

Famous Leslies

Leslie Caron — French and American actress and dancer (born 1931)
Leslie Mann — American actress
Leslie Bibb — American actress
Leslie Uggams — American actress and singer
Leslie Grossman — American actress

In stories & tradition

Leslie Winkle — The Big Bang Theory (TV series)
Leslie Thompkins — Gotham (TV series)
Leslie Knope — Parks and Recreation (TV series)

What Leslies become

Among 1,814 notable people named Leslie:

Spellings & nicknames

Together with its spelling variant Lesly (#1448), Leslie would rank around #558 with about 540 births last year — the newborns split about 73/27 between Leslie and Lesly.

Similar names: Kelly · Lexi · Julie · Bridget · Tara · Casey

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service