The Leathers surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,259 people carried this name — #6,457 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 56,200 people counted. That is up 3% from 5,130 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Leathers surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Leather’.

His entry covers Leather and Leathers.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 474 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

38 families named Leathers, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 217 people lived in those households, 5.7 to a family on average. The table counts it together with one other spelling. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

New Hampshire 21
Pennsylvania 4
North Carolina 4
Maryland 3
Virginia 3
Massachusetts 2
Maine 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 249 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Leathers in American newspapers,
1915.

Newspaper page from Okolona Messenger carrying the name Leathers
Okolona Messenger 1915-06-17

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Leathers in Australian newspapers,
1860s–1950s.

311 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Leathers. The most, 83, date from the 1940s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Queensland, at 1.5 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 90
Queensland 82
Victoria 79
South Australia 24
Western Australia 22
Tasmania 13
ACT (Canberra) 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Leathers.

Who carried it

People named Leathers,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Frederick Leathers, 1st Viscount Leathers
    Frederick Leathers, 1st Viscount Leathers 1883–1965 · politician
  • Frederick Leathers, 1st Viscount Leathers
    Frederick Leathers, 1st Viscount Leathers 1883–1965 · politician
  • Rosemary Elizabeth Leathers 1945–2018

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Leathers,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States270 records

270 records of the Leathers name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 180
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 63
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 11
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 5
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 5
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Charles H. Leathers

    Born 1922 in Maine. Enlisted 1943 at Bangor; welder from Penobscot County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1969, buried at Maine Veterans' Memorial Cemetery, Augusta, Maine.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Clifford W. Leathers

    Born 1948; from Wright City, Oklahoma. U.S. Army, infantryman; killed in action 1967 in Kontum, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Joseph Leathers

    Arrived at New York in 1834 aboard the Superior from Liverpool, aged 25; laborer. From Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 270 records for Leathers in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia42 records

42 records of the Leathers name in Australia
  • Tasmanian Names Index 22
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 9
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 8
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 2
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 1
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record William Leathers

    Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1851. Married 1851 in Hobart, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record William Leathers

    Miner of Daylesford, Victoria; died 1906.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Herbert Leathers

    Arrived in Victoria in 1902 aboard the Moravian, aged 29.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 42 records for Leathers in Australia.

Counts: Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada5 records

5 records of the Leathers name in Canada
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 4
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Frank James Leathers

    Died 1955; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Alice Moria Leathers

    Died 1968 in Milford Station, Hants, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Victor Livingston Leathers

    Died 1982; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.

Showing 3 of 5 records for Leathers in Canada.

Counts: City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

United Kingdom1 record

1 record of the Leathers name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. C. Leathers

    Suffolk Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Leathers.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Leathers is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Leathers volume
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