Leisl
A German diminutive form of Elizabeth, meaning "God is my oath".
Name Census estimates that about 71 living Americans carry the first name Leisl. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Leisl today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leisl births was 1966 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leisl. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Leisl. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
71
~ 1 in 4,827,526 Americans
Peak year
1966
10 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1991 SSA rank
#12,397
Tracked since 1966
Census
Leisl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 138 people with the first name Leisl, which placed it at #47,373 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
#47,373
National first-name rank
People counted
138
138 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leisl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leisl is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.9%) and Black (4.3%). 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 Leisl 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 Leisl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.5% · 107
- Two or more races10.9% · 15
- Black or African American4.3% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 4
Popularity
Leisl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leisl 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 32 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leisl 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 Leisl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leisl
The name Leisl is a German diminutive form of the name Elisabeth, which is derived from the Hebrew name Elisheva, meaning "God is my oath." The name Leisl emerged in the 16th century in the German-speaking regions of Europe, particularly in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
The earliest recorded use of the name Leisl can be traced back to the 16th century in German-speaking regions. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Leisl von Trapp, a member of the famous Trapp Family Singers, who lived from 1915 to 1983. She was born in Austria and gained international recognition for her family's musical performances.
Another notable figure in history with the name Leisl was Leisl Huber (1907-1975), an Austrian-born actress who appeared in several German films during the 1930s and 1940s. She was known for her roles in films such as "The Boxer and the Lady" (1938) and "The Buchholz Family" (1944).
In the world of literature, the name Leisl appeared in the popular musical and film "The Sound of Music," where one of the von Trapp children was named Leisl. This character, portrayed by Charmian Carr in the 1965 film, helped popularize the name in the English-speaking world.
Another historical figure with the name Leisl was Leisl Gooch (1940-2014), an American author and journalist who wrote extensively about her experiences growing up in Germany during World War II. Her memoir, "A Childhood in Hitler's Germany," published in 1987, provided a personal account of life in Nazi Germany.
Leisl Stoupitch (1920-1999) was a German-born dancer and choreographer who worked in the United States and became known for her innovative modern dance performances. She founded the Leisl Stoupitch Dance Company and choreographed works for various companies throughout her career.
While the name Leisl has its origins in German-speaking regions, it has gained popularity in other parts of the world due to its unique and melodic sound. However, it remains most commonly used in countries with German cultural influences, such as Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.
People
Leisl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leisl 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
Leisl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leisl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 71 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leisl 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 4,827,526 US residents.
Is Leisl a common name?
We classify Leisl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 79 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leisl most popular?
The single biggest year for Leisl was 1966, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leisl is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leisl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 138 people with the name Leisl, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,373 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 Leisl 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 Leisl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leisl appears almost entirely female. Of the 134 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 Leisl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leisl is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.9%) and Black (4.3%). 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 Leisl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leisl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.5% (107 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 Leisl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leisl a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Leisl 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 Leisl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leisl 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 Leisl 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 named Leisl?
Find out how many people have the name Leisl on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.