Leigh

Where Leigh comes from

From the nominative case of Old English lēah (“wood, meadow”), 'dweller by the wood or clearing'.
— Wiktionary's entry for Leigh
  • From a surname
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1912
    First appearance
    #1,981 among girls, 9 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1915
    Leigh Brackett born
    American novelist and screenwriter
  3. 1946
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  4. 1969
    Peak, #201
    1,564 babies named Leigh — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1977
    Leigh Whannell born
    Australian filmmaker and actor
  6. 1985
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #312.
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
  • A female given name, Female equivalent of Lee.
Namesakes
  • Leigh Brackett · American novelist and screenwriter, 1915–1978
  • Leigh Whannell · Australian filmmaker and actor, born 1977
  • Leigh Bardugo · Israeli-American author, born 1975
  • Leigh Francis · British actor and host, born 1973
  • Leigh Griffiths · Scottish association football player, born 1990

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.