Find out how popular the last name Leishman is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Leishman.

Leishman, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Leishman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Leishman in America

Leishman is the 16395th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Leishman surname appeared 1,755 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Leishman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Leishman to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Leishman

The surname Leishman is of Scottish origin and can be traced back to the 14th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "læce," meaning physician or healer, and the suffix "man," indicating a person or individual. This suggests that the name was originally an occupational surname for someone who practiced medicine or healing arts.

The earliest recorded instance of the name appears in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland in 1392, where a John Leycheman is mentioned. This spelling variation is indicative of the evolving nature of surnames during that time period, as they were often written phonetically or based on regional dialects.

In the 16th century, the name Leishman is found in various records from the Scottish Lowlands, particularly in the counties of Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire. One notable bearer of the name was Robert Leishman (1542-1612), a prominent merchant and burgess of Glasgow.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Leishman family had established roots in the parish of Kilwinning, Ayrshire. This area was known for its association with the Knights Templar, and the name Leishman may have connections to the medical practitioners who served the order.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in literature can be found in Robert Burns' poem "The Twa Herds," where he mentions a character named "Daddie Leishaw." This suggests that the name was well-established in Ayrshire at the time.

Notable Leishman individuals throughout history include:

1. Thomas Leishman (1805-1869), a Scottish physician and pioneer in the field of obstetrics and gynecology.
2. William Leishman (1865-1926), a Scottish military physician who discovered the Leishmania parasite, which causes leishmaniasis.
3. John Gordon Mackintosh Leishman (1866-1924), a Scottish poet and author, best known for his work "The Threnody of Perdita."
4. James Fleming Leishman (1898-1981), a Scottish theologian and scholar of the New Testament.
5. Marjorie Leishman (1904-1992), a Scottish artist and painter, known for her landscape and still-life works.

The surname Leishman has also been associated with various place names in Scotland, such as Leishman's Burn, a stream in Renfrewshire, and Leishman's Hill, a small eminence near Kilwinning, Ayrshire.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Leishman

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Leishman.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Leishman was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Leishman has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Leishman was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Leishman, please contact us.

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