Lezley
A feminine diminutive form of the French name Lise or Leslie.
Name Census estimates that about 257 living Americans carry the first name Lezley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lezley today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lezley births was 1965 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lezley. 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
257
~ 1 in 1,333,674 Americans
Peak year
1965
12 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2012 SSA rank
#18,420
Tracked since 1955
Census
Lezley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 323 people with the first name Lezley, which placed it at #28,012 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
#28,012
National first-name rank
People counted
323
323 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lezley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lezley is White at 60.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.9%) and Black (11.5%). 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 Lezley 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 Lezley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.4% · 195
- Hispanic or Latino22.9% · 74
- Black or African American11.5% · 37
- Two or more races4.3% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 3
Popularity
Lezley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lezley from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 76 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lezley 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 Lezley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lezley
The name Lezley is an English variant of the name Lesley, which has its origins in the Scottish surname Leslie. The name Leslie is derived from the town of Leslyn in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The town's name is thought to be derived from the Gaelic words "lios" meaning "garden" or "enclosure" and "lìnn" meaning "pool" or "stream."
Lezley, like its parent name Lesley, was initially used as a masculine name in Scotland. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the 12th century when a nobleman named Lesslyn or Leslyn resided in the area that later became known as Leslyn. This nobleman's descendants adopted the surname Leslie, and the name gained prominence among Scottish nobility.
In the 16th century, the name Lesley began to be used as a feminine variant, likely influenced by the French name Lesceline or Céline. This transition of the name from masculine to feminine occurred during the Renaissance period, when many traditionally male names were adapted for use as female names.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Lezley being used for a woman is Lezley Stanhope, an English noblewoman who lived in the late 16th century. Another notable historical figure with the name Lezley was Lezley Lushington, a British actress and singer who was active in the early 20th century (1888-1974).
Other historical figures with the name Lezley include Lezley Wigan (1902-1985), a British actress and dancer; Lezley Barnaby (1893-1989), an American actress and singer; and Lezley Herriott (1918-2015), a Canadian writer and historian.
While the name Lezley has its roots in Scotland and was initially a masculine name, it has evolved over time to become a feminine name used primarily in English-speaking countries. The name's connection to the Scottish town of Leslyn and its Gaelic origins add a touch of historical significance to this unique name variant.
People
Lezley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lezley 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
Lezley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lezley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 257 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lezley 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 1,333,674 US residents.
Is Lezley a common name?
We classify Lezley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 280 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lezley most popular?
The single biggest year for Lezley was 1965, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lezley is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lezley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 323 people with the name Lezley, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,012 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 Lezley 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 Lezley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lezley appears almost entirely female. Of the 319 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Lezley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lezley is White at 60.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.9%) and Black (11.5%). 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 Lezley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lezley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.4% (195 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 Lezley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lezley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lezley 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 Lezley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lezley 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 Lezley 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 Lezley?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Lezley on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.