Pleas

♂ Boy

How to Pronounce Pleas

Pronounced PLEEZ /ˈpliːz/Medium

Meaning: Pleas is a clipped form of Pleasant, a virtue or 'quality' name given in the American South, from the English word for agreeable or good-natured. Families who used Pleasant as a first name often shortened it to Pleas in daily life, and the short form was itself entered as a birth name in the nineteenth century.Low

In 30 seconds: Pleas is a Southern short form of Pleasant, a virtue name from the English word for agreeable and good-natured (said PLEEZ).

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Origin LowEnglish, American

MeaningPleas is a clipped form of Pleasant, a virtue or 'quality' name given in the American South, from the English word for agreeable or good-natured. Families who used Pleasant as a first name often shortened it to Pleas in daily life, and the short form was itself entered as a birth name in the nineteenth century.

U.S. rank (1988)#8201 ↘ Falling

1988 U.S. births5 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)

Peak year1916

Total births (all-time)≈ 831

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Pleas began as a short form of Pleasant, an English virtue name for someone agreeable and good-natured. In the nineteenth-century South it was common enough that the clip itself was written on birth records, standing in for the fuller Pleasant.

It was never common, a couple dozen boys a year at most around the nineteen-teens, and it faded through the century. A boy given it then would be a great-grandfather now, and it reads as an old Southern virtue name rather than a modern choice.

Did you know? Pleas is really a clip of Pleasant, one of a group of old virtue names that Southern families gave to sons.

Overall data confidence 50%

References - Pleas / Pleasant — Short form of virtue name Pleasant; Southern US usage

Variations

PleasantPleasePleaz

Nicknames

PlezPete

Famous Bearers

Famous bearers coming soon.

If you like Pleas…

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Pink— the same vintage feel

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By themeenglish vintage virtue

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Pleas mean?

It's a short form of Pleasant, an English virtue name for someone agreeable and good-natured.

How do you pronounce Pleas?

It's said PLEEZ /ˈpliːz/, one syllable.

Is Pleas a boy or girl name?

Pleas is used as a boy's name.

Is Pleas a popular name?

No, it was always rare, an old Southern virtue name seen only slightly in the early twentieth century.