Leeland
From an Old English origin, meaning a meadow or clearing in the woods.
Name Census estimates that about 2,949 living Americans carry the first name Leeland. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Leeland today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leeland births was 2012 (183 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leeland. 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 Leeland with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Leeland is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 116,227 Americans
Peak year
2012
183 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,795
Tracked since 1915
Census
Leeland in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,178 people with the first name Leeland, which placed it at #7,102 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
#7,102
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,178 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leeland
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leeland is White at 75.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.9%) and Two or More Races (7.4%). 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 Leeland 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 Leeland at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.8% · 1,652
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 173
- Two or more races7.4% · 161
- Black or African American5.7% · 124
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 28
Gender
Gender distribution for Leeland
Out of the 3,211 babies given the name Leeland since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Leeland as a male name
- Ranked #1,795 in 2024
- 91 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (183 births)
Leeland as a female name
- Ranked #16,587 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leeland leans strongly male. 2,142 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 31 female bearers (1.4%).
Popularity
Leeland: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leeland from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,475 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leeland remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leeland 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 Leeland during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leelands live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, Michigan recorded the most babies named Leeland, while Oregon, Wisconsin, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leeland
The name Leeland is an English given name with origins that can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon era. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing" and "land" meaning "land" or "territory." The combination of these two words suggests a connection to a person associated with a meadow or a particular area of land.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leeland dates back to the 11th century, where it appeared in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was already in use among the Anglo-Saxon population before the Norman conquest of England.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Leeland. One of the earliest was Leeland of Ely, a Benedictine monk and scholar who lived in the 12th century and wrote extensively on theology and ecclesiastical law.
Another significant figure was Sir Leeland Willoughby, a 16th-century English soldier and courtier who served under King Henry VIII and played a crucial role in the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace, a major uprising against the king's policies.
In the realm of literature, Leeland Crosthwaite was an 18th-century English poet and dramatist who wrote several plays and poems, including "The Generous Free-Mason" and "The Lady's Diversion."
Moving into the modern era, Leeland Mouring (1905-1988) was an American film actor who appeared in numerous westerns and action movies during the 1930s and 1940s, often portraying rugged and adventurous characters.
Lastly, Leeland Hartley Pogue (1920-2015) was a prominent American archaeologist and academic, known for his extensive work in the field of Mesoamerican studies and his contributions to the understanding of ancient civilizations in Mexico and Central America.
Throughout its history, the name Leeland has maintained a sense of connection to the land and natural surroundings, reflecting the Anglo-Saxon roots from which it emerged. While not a widely popular name in modern times, it has been borne by individuals across various fields, from religion and literature to film and academia, leaving a lasting mark on the cultural and historical tapestry.
People
Leeland + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leeland 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
Leeland: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leeland?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,949 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leeland 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 116,227 US residents.
Is Leeland a common name?
We classify Leeland as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,211 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leeland most popular?
The single biggest year for Leeland was 2012, when 183 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leeland is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leeland in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,178 people with the name Leeland, or 0.72 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,102 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 Leeland 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 Leeland?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leeland leans strongly male. 2,142 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 31 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Leeland?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leeland is White at 75.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.9%) and Two or More Races (7.4%). 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 Leeland most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leeland in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.8% (1,652 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 Leeland in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leeland a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Leeland in the SSA data are male. 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 Leeland still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leeland 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 Leeland 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 are called Leeland?
Find out how many Americans are named Leeland on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.