Leasha
A feminine Arabic name meaning "playful, vivacious, lively, or carefree."
Name Census estimates that about 276 living Americans carry the first name Leasha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leasha today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leasha births was 1962 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leasha. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Leasha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
276
~ 1 in 1,241,864 Americans
Peak year
1962
20 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1999 SSA rank
#10,950
Tracked since 1960
Census
Leasha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 326 people with the first name Leasha, which placed it at #27,839 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#27,839
National first-name rank
People counted
326
326 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leasha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leasha is White at 57.7%. The next largest groups are Black (31.3%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Leasha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Leasha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.7% · 188
- Black or African American31.3% · 102
- Two or more races6.4% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
Popularity
Leasha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leasha from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 111 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Leasha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leasha by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Leasha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leashas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Leasha
The name Leasha finds its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language, emerging during the medieval period in the highlands of Scotland. It is derived from the Gaelic word "leas," meaning "meadow" or "pasture." The name was initially a descriptive term referring to someone who lived near or worked in a meadow.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leasha can be found in the annals of the Clan MacLeod, a prominent Scottish clan from the Isle of Skye. In the 14th century, a woman named Leasha MacLeod was mentioned as a prominent figure within the clan, known for her wisdom and leadership qualities.
During the 16th century, the name Leasha gained popularity among the Scottish nobility. Lady Leasha Stewart, born in 1542, was a prominent figure at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. She was known for her exceptional skills in embroidery and her involvement in the cultural affairs of the Scottish Renaissance.
In the 17th century, the name Leasha crossed over to Ireland, where it was adopted by Irish families with Scottish roots. One notable figure was Leasha O'Brien, born in 1675, who was a celebrated poet and writer during the Irish literary revival.
As the Scottish and Irish diasporas spread around the world, the name Leasha traveled with them. In the 19th century, Leasha Campbell, born in 1823, was a pioneering educator in Canada, establishing several schools for children in remote areas of the country.
Another notable bearer of the name was Leasha Mackenzie, born in 1887, a Scottish suffragette and activist who fought tirelessly for women's rights and the right to vote in the early 20th century.
While the name Leasha has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been carried by remarkable individuals who have left their mark in various fields, from literature and education to activism and cultural preservation.
People
Leasha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leasha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Leasha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leasha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 276 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leasha going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,241,864 US residents.
Is Leasha a common name?
We classify Leasha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 309 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leasha most popular?
The single biggest year for Leasha was 1962, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leasha is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leasha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 326 people with the name Leasha, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,839 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Leasha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Leasha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leasha appears almost entirely female. Of the 324 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Leasha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leasha is White at 57.7%. The next largest groups are Black (31.3%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Leasha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leasha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.7% (188 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Leasha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leasha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leasha in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Leasha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leasha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Leasha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Leasha as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.