This in an English place name derived from living at or near the town of Leichester in Leicestershire. The exact meaning of the name is not known but it is thought to be 'dwellers on the River Legra.' The spelling in 803 was Legorensis Civitas and in 1130 it was Legrecestra.
The first instance of the name in England was Hugo de (of) Legrecestra, Orgar de Leycestre, both of Devonshire, and Robert de Lestre of London, all living in 1273. Then came Henry de Laycestre, specer (spicer), a freeman of York, 1305; Henry Lycestre is listed in the 1381 Poll tax rolls of Yorkshire; Henry Lassiture, a guilder, lived in York in 1503; Richard Lasseter's will was filed in Sussex in 1550; Nicholas Lessetur's marriage is recorded in the Suffolk parish register of 1603.
The present English pronunciation of Leicester is Lester.
Thomas Leicester, who was living in Virginia in 1623, arrived on the ship Abigaile in 1620.
The spellings Lasitor, Lasseter, Lassetor, Lassiter, and Lassitor are recorded in the 1790 North Carolina census.