Leslie

Leslie m, occasionally f, esp. in the U.S.

Scottish and English: transferred use of the Scottish surname derived from the lands of Lesslyn in Aberdeenshire (a placename perhaps from Gaelic leas cuilinn meaning ‘garden of hollies’). Surnames and clan names have been used as given names more readily and from an earlier date in Scotland than elsewhere, and this is the name of an ancient clan, who in the 14th and 15th centuries were close associates of the Scottish royal house of Stewart. However, in the 17th century their most famous member, the general David Leslie (d. 1682), was a Covenanter who in the Civil War played a major role in defeating the royalists (including James Graham, Earl of Montrose, in 1645). But by 1650 he had switched sides and was the commander of the Scottish royalists who defeated Cromwell at Dunbar. The Leslies have held the earldom of Rothes since 1457.

The British film actor Leslie Howard (1890–1943), who was of Hungarian origin, had a considerable influence on the popularity of the name, especially in the United States, where he appeared in Gone with the Wind (1939), the film that has probably had more influence on naming than any other.

Short form: Les m.