Given name & surname · also Middle English
Leland
“from the meadow land”
Leland is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the meadow land.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the meadow land.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Middle English.
How it developed
It entered given-name use through an existing surname.
The story
Its naming history includes the use of a family name as a given name.
Leland through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 58,556
- 57,999 boys · 557 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 1,035 babies
- 2025
- 626
- #494 for boys · #7,710 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −17%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 612 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 494 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 17.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 1,029 in 2007. It also appeared in 14 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Michigan had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (50). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 29,687 as a first name in 2020; 4,544 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Leland’s family of names
Leland has a related form in Lindley. Leland has a related form in Leeland. Leland has a related form in Leyland.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Leland
- Leland StanfordAmerican politician and railroad tycoon (1824-1893)
- Metro BoominAmerican record producer (born 1993)
- Leland D. MelvinNASA astronaut and engineerborn 1964
- Leland OrserAmerican actorborn 1960
- Leland SklarAmerican bassist and session musicianborn 1947
- Mike PostAmerican composer and record producerborn 1944
- Leland MerrillOlympic wrestler1920–2009
- Leland Ossian HowardAmerican entomologist (1857-1950)
- Leland IrvingCanadian ice hockey goaltenderborn 1988
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Leland, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Ashton
“from the ash-tree town”
95% boys · 5% girls
Bentley
“from the meadow of bent grass”
95% boys · 5% girls
Boston
Boston is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the town near the forest; from the city of Boston.”
90% boys · 10% girls
Locke
“man of the forest” · “from the fortress”
>99% boys
Woods
“a woman of the forest” · “a man of the forest”
98% boys · 2% girls
Ashford
“from the ash-tree ford”
>99% boys
Eacott
“river, running stream”
—
Walding
“wood, forest”
—