Les
Les was given to 11 boys in 2025, #7,468 among boys’ names; 3,480 Americans have been recorded with it since 1900 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,420 Americans named Les and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (69% of everyone recorded); the median is 63 years old and half are between 53 and 68.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Les by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Les mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Les is “a diminutive of the male given names Lester and Leslie.”
Also “a diminutive of the female given name Leslie.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Les?
#7,468 among boys’ names, 2025
Les rose from #7,822 in 2015 to #7,468 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 5.2 to 6.4 per million.
188 babies in 1961, the peak
Les peaked in 1961, when 188 babies were given it (182 boys, #587 among boys’ names). The 11 births of 2025 are 6% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 11 | #7,468 | 6.4 |
| 2024 | 5 | #13,439 | 2.9 |
| 2023 | 6 | #11,680 | 3.5 |
| 2022 | 8 | #9,502 | 4.6 |
| 2021 | 5 | #13,299 | 2.9 |
| 2020 | 10 | #7,852 | 5.8 |
| 2019 | 12 | #7,012 | 6.7 |
| 2018 | 8 | #9,308 | 4.4 |
| 2017 | 12 | #6,939 | 6.5 |
| 2016 | 14 | #6,212 | 7.4 |
Every recorded year (106)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 10 | #7,822 | 5.2 |
| 2014 | 8 | #9,284 | 4.2 |
| 2013 | 7 | #10,299 | 3.7 |
| 2012 | 5 | #13,423 | 2.6 |
| 2011 | 11 | #7,300 | 5.8 |
| 2010 | 8 | #9,328 | 4.2 |
| 2009 | 10 | #8,061 | 5.0 |
| 2008 | 9 | #8,725 | 4.4 |
| 2007 | 7 | #10,441 | 3.4 |
| 2006 | 7 | #10,209 | 3.4 |
| 2005 | 5 | #12,569 | 2.5 |
| 2004 | 7 | #9,541 | 3.5 |
| 2003 | 7 | #9,242 | 3.5 |
| 2001 | 5 | #11,619 | 2.6 |
| 2000 | 13 | #5,465 | 6.6 |
| 1999 | 6 | #9,420 | 3.1 |
| 1998 | 9 | #6,619 | 4.7 |
| 1996 | 5 | #9,920 | 2.6 |
| 1995 | 11 | #5,363 | 5.8 |
| 1994 | 6 | #8,374 | 3.1 |
| 1993 | 6 | #8,253 | 3.1 |
| 1992 | 10 | #5,483 | 5.0 |
| 1991 | 10 | #5,327 | 4.9 |
| 1990 | 12 | #4,560 | 5.8 |
| 1989 | 17 | #3,385 | 8.5 |
| 1988 | 27 | #2,279 | 14.1 |
| 1987 | 8 | #5,246 | 4.3 |
| 1986 | 14 | #3,362 | 7.6 |
| 1985 | 22 | #2,398 | 11.9 |
| 1984 | 15 | #3,040 | 8.3 |
| 1983 | 19 | #2,540 | 10.6 |
| 1982 | 19 | #2,565 | 10.5 |
| 1981 | 21 | #2,383 | 11.7 |
| 1980 | 21 | #2,412 | 11.8 |
| 1979 | 18 | #2,642 | 10.5 |
| 1978 | 20 | #2,337 | 12.2 |
| 1977 | 32 | #1,693 | 19.5 |
| 1976 | 30 | #1,727 | 19.1 |
| 1975 | 25 | #1,920 | 16.0 |
| 1974 | 26 | #1,815 | 16.5 |
| 1973 | 29 | #1,632 | 18.6 |
| 1972 | 25 | #1,802 | 15.4 |
| 1971 | 48 | #1,192 | 27.1 |
| 1970 | 54 | #1,125 | 29.1 |
| 1969 | 57 | #1,022 | 31.9 |
| 1968 | 63 | #915 | 36.2 |
| 1967 | 71 | #853 | 40.7 |
| 1966 | 83 | #802 | 46.5 |
| 1965 | 92 | #768 | 49.5 |
| 1964 | 105 | #750 | 52.7 |
| 1963 | 121 | #708 | 59.6 |
| 1962 | 126 | #690 | 60.9 |
| 1961 | 182 | #587 | 85.7 |
| 1960 | 172 | #599 | 80.7 |
| 1959 | 160 | #611 | 75.0 |
| 1958 | 162 | #603 | 76.3 |
| 1957 | 126 | #679 | 58.4 |
| 1956 | 112 | #701 | 52.9 |
| 1955 | 59 | #979 | 28.6 |
| 1954 | 41 | #1,179 | 20.1 |
| 1953 | 39 | #1,204 | 19.8 |
| 1952 | 30 | #1,392 | 15.4 |
| 1951 | 33 | #1,286 | 17.5 |
| 1950 | 28 | #1,380 | 15.6 |
| 1949 | 49 | #1,001 | 27.6 |
| 1948 | 70 | #816 | 39.9 |
| 1947 | 91 | #721 | 49.7 |
| 1946 | 74 | #775 | 45.6 |
| 1945 | 50 | #907 | 37.2 |
| 1944 | 54 | #864 | 39.6 |
| 1943 | 61 | #852 | 42.7 |
| 1942 | 33 | #1,224 | 23.9 |
| 1941 | 30 | #1,223 | 24.4 |
| 1940 | 37 | #1,085 | 31.9 |
| 1939 | 17 | #1,685 | 15.4 |
| 1938 | 18 | #1,656 | 16.2 |
| 1937 | 26 | #1,330 | 24.4 |
| 1936 | 18 | #1,619 | 17.4 |
| 1935 | 16 | #1,799 | 15.4 |
| 1934 | 16 | #1,821 | 15.5 |
| 1933 | 11 | #2,304 | 11.1 |
| 1932 | 11 | #2,401 | 10.5 |
| 1931 | 8 | #2,992 | 7.7 |
| 1930 | 11 | #2,540 | 10.0 |
| 1928 | 12 | #2,470 | 10.8 |
| 1926 | 9 | #3,031 | 8.1 |
| 1925 | 7 | #3,590 | 6.3 |
| 1923 | 8 | #3,332 | 7.3 |
| 1922 | 11 | #2,729 | 10.1 |
| 1921 | 15 | #2,218 | 13.6 |
| 1920 | 9 | #3,093 | 8.5 |
| 1918 | 7 | #3,561 | 6.9 |
| 1917 | 8 | #3,082 | 8.6 |
| 1914 | 8 | #2,556 | 12.2 |
| 1913 | 11 | #1,753 | 21.5 |
| 1900 | 5 | #1,416 | 33.2 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Les a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Les has been given almost only to boys: 32 girls in 106 years of records.
Girls and boys named Les: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Les, and how old are they?
2,420 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 69% of the 3,480 Americans ever recorded as Les. The median Les alive today is 63 years old; half are between 53 and 68.
The 2020 Census counted 6,284 people named Les (249 women and girls, 6,035 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,623 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.4 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Les rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 120 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,260 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 601 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 210 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 107 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 115 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Les born?
The states with the most babies named Les are California, Texas and New York, with 56% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 407 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Texas | 144 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| New York | 112 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Washington | 105 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Illinois | 98 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 80 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Michigan | 74 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Minnesota | 25 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Colorado | 22 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Missouri | 17 | not ranked | 0.2× |
Where Les is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Les is most over-represented in Washington: since 1910 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Les with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 3,761 babies since 1880, Les is the most given (93% of them).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Les
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Les and names like it
- Compare Les and LessBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sLes peaked in 1961.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Les since 1910.
- The top names of 1961The year the most babies were named Les.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Les alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with LMost given first.