Lesslie
A variant spelling of the feminine name Leslie, of Scottish origin.
Name Census estimates that about 509 living Americans carry the first name Lesslie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Lesslie today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lesslie births was 2002 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lesslie. 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
- • Lesslie started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
509
~ 1 in 673,388 Americans
Peak year
2002
27 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
1962 SSA rank
#4,391
Tracked since 1915
Gender
Gender distribution for Lesslie
Lesslie is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 641 total registrations, 142 (22.2%) were male and 499 (77.8%) were female.
Lesslie as a male name
- Ranked #4,391 in 1962
- 5 male births in 1962
- Peak: 1924 (11 births)
Lesslie as a female name
- Ranked #13,214 in 2019
- 7 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2002 (27 births)
Popularity
Lesslie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lesslie from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 206 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lesslie 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 Lesslie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lesslies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lesslie
The name Lesslie has its roots in the Old English language and can be traced back to the 8th century. It is derived from the combination of two words, "læss" meaning "less" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing in a forest." The name is believed to have originated as a locational surname, referring to someone who lived near a small meadow or clearing.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lesslie can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. Here, the name appears as "Lesseleia," referring to a settlement in Berkshire.
During the Middle Ages, the name Lesslie was primarily used in Scotland, where it was likely introduced by Anglo-Norman settlers. In the 13th century, a notable figure named Sir Andrew Lesslie of Rothes was recorded as a prominent knight and landowner in Moray, Scotland.
In the 16th century, the name Lesslie gained prominence through the Scottish family of Lesslie, who held the hereditary title of Earl of Rothes. This line of nobility included notable figures such as Andrew Lesslie (1507-1611), who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh and played a significant role in the Scottish Reformation.
Another influential figure with the name Lesslie was John Lesslie (1571-1667), a Scottish mathematician and philosopher who made contributions to the development of calculus and was a contemporary of Sir Isaac Newton.
In the 18th century, the name Lesslie was brought to the American colonies by Scottish immigrants. One notable bearer was Arthur Lesslie (1728-1796), a Scottish-born merchant and plantation owner who settled in South Carolina and served as a delegate to the Continental Congress during the American Revolution.
Throughout history, the name Lesslie has been associated with various fields, including literature, music, and the arts. Some notable individuals with this first name include the American novelist Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998), the Scottish composer Lesslie Alexander (1913-1997), and the English painter Lesslie Grace Whittall (1898-1985).
While the name Lesslie is not as common today as it once was, it continues to be used as a given name, carrying with it a rich history and cultural significance rooted in its Old English origins and its association with notable figures throughout the centuries.
People
Lesslie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lesslie 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
Lesslie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lesslie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 509 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lesslie 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 673,388 US residents.
Is Lesslie a common name?
We classify Lesslie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 641 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lesslie most popular?
The single biggest year for Lesslie was 2002, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lesslie is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lesslie a female name?
Yes, 77.8% of people registered as Lesslie 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.
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.