Lezlie
A feminine name of English origin, meaning "gray" or "from the gray settlement".
Name Census estimates that about 2,041 living Americans carry the first name Lezlie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lezlie today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lezlie births was 1962 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lezlie. 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.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 167,935 Americans
Peak year
1962
95 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,577
Tracked since 1944
Census
Lezlie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,156 people with the first name Lezlie, which placed it at #7,152 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
#7,152
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,156 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lezlie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lezlie is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.1%) and Black (8.1%). 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 Lezlie 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 Lezlie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.4% · 1,562
- Hispanic or Latino14.1% · 304
- Black or African American8.1% · 175
- Two or more races3.2% · 68
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 16
Popularity
Lezlie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lezlie from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 646 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
Lezlie 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 Lezlie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lezlies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Texas, California, Washington recorded the most babies named Lezlie, while Oregon, Kansas, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 45 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lezlie
The name Lezlie is an English variant of the name Leslie, which originated from an ancient Norman family in Scotland. The name is believed to have derived from the Old French phrase "l'isle," meaning "the island," referring to a family estate near Kingussie in Inverness-shire.
The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 12th century, with mention of a Leslyn family in Fife, Scotland. Over time, the spelling evolved into various forms, including Lesley, Lesly, Leslye, and Lezlie.
One of the earliest notable bearers of the name was Andrew Leslie, a Scottish nobleman who lived in the late 13th century. He served as the Governor of Edinburgh Castle and played a significant role in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
In the 16th century, John Leslie (1526-1596) was a prominent Scottish scholar and Catholic prelate. He served as the Bishop of Ross and was a staunch supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots.
In the literary world, the name gained recognition through the works of Scottish novelist Fiona Macleod, whose real name was William Sharp (1856-1905). He often used the pen name "Fiona Lezlie" for his writings.
Another notable bearer of the name was Lezlie Linden (1903-1998), an American actress and dancer who appeared in several Broadway productions and Hollywood films during the 1920s and 1930s.
In the realm of sports, Lezlie Ivory (born 1990) is a former American Olympic track and field athlete who specialized in the hurdles events. She won a silver medal in the 4x400-meter relay at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
While the name Lezlie is primarily associated with the English language and Scottish heritage, it has gained popularity in various parts of the world due to its unique spelling and historical significance.
People
Lezlie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lezlie 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
Lezlie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lezlie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,041 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lezlie 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 167,935 US residents.
Is Lezlie a common name?
We classify Lezlie as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,399 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lezlie most popular?
The single biggest year for Lezlie was 1962, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lezlie 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 Lezlie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,156 people with the name Lezlie, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,152 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 Lezlie 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 Lezlie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lezlie leans strongly female. 2,137 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 22 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Lezlie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lezlie is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.1%) and Black (8.1%). 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 Lezlie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lezlie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.4% (1,562 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 Lezlie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lezlie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lezlie 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 Lezlie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lezlie 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 Lezlie 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 the name Lezlie?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Lezlie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.