Leland
Of Old English origin, meaning "from the lush meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 33,869 living Americans carry the first name Leland. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Leland today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leland births was 2007 (1,035 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leland. 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 Leland with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Leland is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 543 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
34K
~ 1 in 10,120 Americans
Peak year
2007
1,035 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#547
Tracked since 1880
Census
Leland in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 29,686 people with the first name Leland, which placed it at #1,260 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
#1,260
National first-name rank
People counted
30K
29,686 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
9.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leland
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leland is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Leland 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 Leland at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.8% · 23,389
- Black or African American6.4% · 1,899
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 1,734
- Two or more races4.6% · 1,371
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 670
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 623
Gender
Gender distribution for Leland
Out of the 57,917 babies given the name Leland since 1880, 99.1% 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.
Leland as a male name
- Ranked #547 in 2024
- 540 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (1,029 births)
Leland as a female name
- Ranked #6,515 in 2024
- 18 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (21 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leland leans strongly male. 29,354 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 333 female bearers (1.1%).
Popularity
Leland: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leland from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 8,361 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leland remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leland 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 Leland during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lelands live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Leland, while Rhode Island, District of Columbia, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,005 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Leland
The given name Leland has its origins in the English language, derived from the Old English words "lēah" meaning "meadow" or "field," and "land" meaning "land" or "territory." It is a compound name that can be interpreted as "meadow land" or "field land," likely referring to a person who lived or worked on a meadow or field.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leland can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholdings and property ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Leilande," referring to a person who owned or lived on a meadow or field.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Leland was primarily used in England and other parts of the British Isles. It gained some popularity during the Renaissance period, with several notable individuals bearing this name.
One of the most famous historical figures named Leland was John Leland, an English poet and antiquarian who lived from 1506 to 1552. He is known for his extensive travels throughout England, documenting and preserving historical records, manuscripts, and artifacts.
Another notable Leland was Charles Godfrey Leland, an American humorist, folklorist, and author, who lived from 1824 to 1903. He is best known for his work in preserving and documenting the folklore and traditions of various cultures, particularly the Roma people.
In the 20th century, Leland Stanford, an American industrialist, philanthropist, and the founder of Stanford University, was born in 1824 and lived until 1893. His legacy includes the establishment of one of the most prestigious universities in the United States.
Leland Ossian Howard, an American entomologist and author, lived from 1857 to 1950. He made significant contributions to the field of economic entomology and served as the chief of the Bureau of Entomology in the United States Department of Agriculture.
Another notable Leland was Leland Hartwell, an American scientist and Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 2001. He was born in 1939 and is recognized for his contributions to the understanding of cell cycle regulation and cancer research.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Leland, showcasing its enduring presence and significance across various fields and cultures.
People
Leland + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leland 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
Leland: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leland?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 33,869 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leland 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 10,120 US residents.
Is Leland a common name?
We classify Leland as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 57,917 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leland most popular?
The single biggest year for Leland was 2007, when 1,035 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leland is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Leland in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 29,686 people with the name Leland, or 9.83 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,260 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 Leland 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 Leland?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Leland leans strongly male. 29,354 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 333 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Leland?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Leland is White at 78.8%. The next largest groups are Black (6.4%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Leland most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Leland in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.8% (23,389 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 Leland in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Leland a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Leland 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 Leland still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Leland 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 Leland 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 Leland?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.