That's a surprise! Or maybe a surprize? In British English, which we basically speak in South Africa if we're mother-tongue speakers, Leslie and Lesley both have a z sound, and so does Les, which was mostly a male nn I think. So, if Americans use Les as a nn for Leslie, does that sound like Less or Lez? Does Leslie sound like Lesslie or Lezlie? And is it possible to use, say, Wezley with nn Wess? Lezlie with nn Less? I'm fascinated! Of course, the USA is much too big to generalise about ...