Leslie

Scottish

"garden of holly"

Leslie Origin and Meaning

The name Leslie is a boy's name of Scottish origin meaning "garden of holly".

This Scottish place name and surname was more popular for boys in the US until the mid-1940s; in the UK, the Leslie spelling is predominantly masculine, with Lesley widely used as the feminine variant. Now ranking in the mid-400s for girls and not at all for boys in the US, it could be time to bring this smart, subtle nature name back, especially considering the current popularity of -ley names for both sexes.

Trivia tidbit: Both President Gerald Ford and comedian Bob Hope were born Leslie, while Gone With The Wind actor Leslie Howard was actually born Laszlo, according to some sources.

Leslie Rank in US Top 1000

# 875 in the US

Leslie Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 1316 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Leslie

• 1316 Nameberry 2025

20 Names Similar to Leslie

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Leslie.

• Frederik
• Gerald
• Maurice
• Irwin
• Pierre
• Leroy
• Omar
• Chadwick
• Stuart
• Karl
• Milton
• Melvin
• Roderick
• Alvin
• Hans
• Kirk
• Jacques
• Reginald
• Glenn
• Gaston

Famous People Named Leslie

• Leslie Howard (born László Howard Steiner) English actor
• Leslie William Nielsen Canadian,American actor
• Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope English,born American actor and comedian
• Leslie Lynch King Jr. birth name of US President Gerald Ford
• Leslie Richard Groves Jr., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officer who constructed the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project
• Leslie François Saint Roc Manigat former President of Haiti
• Leslie Cheung (Kwok wing), Hong Kong singer and actor
• Leslie James Morshead Australian army general
• Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool American singer and bassist of Primus
• Leslie Roy "Les" Moonves American CEO of CBS
• Leslie Odom Jr., American actor and singer
• Leslie Edward Pridgen aka Freeway American rapper
• Leslie "Les" Aspin Jr., U.S. Congressman and presidential adviser
• Leslie Richard "Arliss" Howard American actor and director
• Leslie David Baker American actor ("The Office")

The name Leslie in Pop Culture

• Leslie Withers character in the game "The Evil Within"
• "The Great Leslie" Gallant character in the film "The Great Race"
• Leslie Barbara character in the "Police Academy" Film series
• Leslie character in the manga/anime series "The Promised Neverland"