Lesley: name meaning, origin & popularity
- Meaning
- “garden of holly”
- Origin
- Scottish Gaelic
- Say it
- LEZ-lee · 2 syllables
- Used for
- Girls (88% of all uses)
From a Scottish surname and place name, often explained from Gaelic leas celyn or related forms meaning holly garden. Lesley is also a common variant of Leslie.
How popular is Lesley?
Babies named Lesley in 202436
2024 rank#4,029 girls
Peak year1977
Total US babies since 188039,070
Lesley is fading: recent use is about 30% of its level ten years before.
Names like Lesley
Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.
Lesley questions
What does the name Lesley mean?
Lesley means "garden of holly". It comes from Scottish Gaelic. From a Scottish surname and place name, often explained from Gaelic leas celyn or related forms meaning holly garden. Lesley is also a common variant of Leslie.
Is Lesley a boy or girl name?
Lesley is mainly a girl's name in US records (88% of uses since 1880).
How popular is Lesley?
36 US babies were named Lesley in 2024. Its peak year was 1977.
How do you pronounce Lesley?
Lesley is usually pronounced LEZ-lee.
Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.