Lesley
Lesley was given to 30 girls in 2025, #4,616 among girls’ names; 39,098 Americans have been recorded with it since 1882 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 34,100 Americans named Lesley and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (87% of everyone recorded); the median is 47 years old and half are between 32 and 58.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Lesley by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Lesley mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Lesley is “a female given name transferred from the surname, used since the 18th century. Popular in the U.K. in the mid-20th century.” Its etymology gives the sense “garden of hollies” (cuileann).
Also “a male given name transferred from the surname.”
From a placename in Aberdeenshire, originally Lesslyn, Scottish Gaelic lios cuileann (“garden of hollies”).
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Lesley?
#4,616 among girls’ names, 2025
Lesley fell from #2,050 in 2015 to #4,616 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 53.8 to 18.7 per million.
981 babies in 1980, the peak
Lesley peaked in 1980, when 981 babies were given it (928 girls, #269 among girls’ names). The 30 births of 2025 are 3% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 30 | #4,616 | under 5 | |
| 2024 | 36 | #4,084 | under 5 | |
| 2023 | 29 | #4,703 | under 5 | |
| 2022 | 51 | #3,195 | under 5 | |
| 2021 | 40 | #3,773 | under 5 | |
| 2020 | 51 | #3,124 | under 5 | |
| 2019 | 51 | #3,148 | under 5 | |
| 2018 | 62 | #2,769 | under 5 | |
| 2017 | 52 | #3,119 | under 5 | |
| 2016 | 76 | #2,438 | 8 | #9,354 |
Every recorded year (130)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 96 | #2,050 | 6 | #11,544 |
| 2014 | 113 | #1,814 | under 5 | |
| 2013 | 120 | #1,735 | under 5 | |
| 2012 | 131 | #1,642 | under 5 | |
| 2011 | 175 | #1,330 | 7 | #10,316 |
| 2010 | 219 | #1,123 | 7 | #10,321 |
| 2009 | 223 | #1,137 | 10 | #8,062 |
| 2008 | 254 | #1,033 | 5 | #13,770 |
| 2007 | 353 | #815 | 7 | #10,442 |
| 2006 | 371 | #744 | 12 | #6,729 |
| 2005 | 382 | #716 | 8 | #8,778 |
| 2004 | 451 | #610 | 9 | #7,923 |
| 2003 | 452 | #604 | 12 | #6,097 |
| 2002 | 471 | #564 | 11 | #6,346 |
| 2001 | 509 | #524 | 9 | #7,263 |
| 2000 | 658 | #430 | 17 | #4,489 |
| 1999 | 682 | #408 | 21 | #3,652 |
| 1998 | 695 | #394 | 15 | #4,544 |
| 1997 | 626 | #416 | 15 | #4,373 |
| 1996 | 591 | #431 | 15 | #4,301 |
| 1995 | 276 | #740 | 10 | #5,744 |
| 1994 | 288 | #722 | 20 | #3,406 |
| 1993 | 314 | #689 | 22 | #3,096 |
| 1992 | 354 | #637 | 19 | #3,406 |
| 1991 | 372 | #608 | 30 | #2,370 |
| 1990 | 440 | #540 | 26 | #2,584 |
| 1989 | 394 | #566 | 27 | #2,440 |
| 1988 | 480 | #473 | 23 | #2,560 |
| 1987 | 472 | #463 | 24 | #2,366 |
| 1986 | 520 | #421 | 40 | #1,631 |
| 1985 | 565 | #401 | 26 | #2,153 |
| 1984 | 606 | #378 | 41 | #1,517 |
| 1983 | 734 | #318 | 42 | #1,483 |
| 1982 | 833 | #296 | 40 | #1,552 |
| 1981 | 870 | #282 | 60 | #1,194 |
| 1980 | 928 | #269 | 53 | #1,282 |
| 1979 | 913 | #268 | 42 | #1,453 |
| 1978 | 842 | #275 | 46 | #1,365 |
| 1977 | 848 | #281 | 82 | #947 |
| 1976 | 752 | #305 | 57 | #1,138 |
| 1975 | 714 | #321 | 56 | #1,132 |
| 1974 | 782 | #302 | 59 | #1,077 |
| 1973 | 611 | #348 | 75 | #934 |
| 1972 | 641 | #345 | 65 | #1,003 |
| 1971 | 850 | #313 | 71 | #972 |
| 1970 | 766 | #342 | 75 | #924 |
| 1969 | 714 | #334 | 66 | #948 |
| 1968 | 661 | #343 | 86 | #802 |
| 1967 | 689 | #335 | 99 | #740 |
| 1966 | 752 | #324 | 100 | #739 |
| 1965 | 744 | #330 | 95 | #761 |
| 1964 | 403 | #483 | 78 | #864 |
| 1963 | 350 | #520 | 88 | #809 |
| 1962 | 304 | #564 | 84 | #830 |
| 1961 | 276 | #608 | 76 | #877 |
| 1960 | 244 | #647 | 76 | #872 |
| 1959 | 305 | #558 | 101 | #758 |
| 1958 | 286 | #588 | 102 | #734 |
| 1957 | 397 | #474 | 83 | #832 |
| 1956 | 295 | #544 | 80 | #837 |
| 1955 | 333 | #505 | 69 | #895 |
| 1954 | 354 | #472 | 75 | #839 |
| 1953 | 297 | #503 | 70 | #859 |
| 1952 | 307 | #480 | 79 | #790 |
| 1951 | 297 | #477 | 86 | #757 |
| 1950 | 254 | #509 | 64 | #859 |
| 1949 | 249 | #520 | 81 | #767 |
| 1948 | 212 | #575 | 71 | #806 |
| 1947 | 215 | #582 | 71 | #825 |
| 1946 | 204 | #553 | 57 | #874 |
| 1945 | 129 | #644 | 48 | #933 |
| 1944 | 129 | #654 | 70 | #743 |
| 1943 | 95 | #797 | 68 | #800 |
| 1942 | 102 | #749 | 60 | #844 |
| 1941 | 56 | #980 | 47 | #932 |
| 1940 | 32 | #1,331 | 57 | #834 |
| 1939 | 36 | #1,233 | 43 | #965 |
| 1938 | 39 | #1,173 | 40 | #1,021 |
| 1937 | 36 | #1,214 | 39 | #1,027 |
| 1936 | 18 | #1,837 | 31 | #1,198 |
| 1935 | 28 | #1,404 | 37 | #1,070 |
| 1934 | 23 | #1,580 | 42 | #1,001 |
| 1933 | 17 | #1,938 | 35 | #1,115 |
| 1932 | 5 | #4,775 | 31 | #1,224 |
| 1931 | 9 | #3,112 | 25 | #1,413 |
| 1930 | 8 | #3,513 | 40 | #1,101 |
| 1929 | 13 | #2,509 | 41 | #1,083 |
| 1928 | 5 | #5,102 | 46 | #1,024 |
| 1927 | 14 | #2,488 | 51 | #987 |
| 1926 | 15 | #2,416 | 36 | #1,207 |
| 1925 | 14 | #2,555 | 53 | #927 |
| 1924 | 7 | #4,244 | 40 | #1,148 |
| 1923 | 9 | #3,516 | 45 | #1,070 |
| 1922 | 6 | #4,748 | 58 | #920 |
| 1921 | 14 | #2,570 | 39 | #1,152 |
| 1920 | 15 | #2,416 | 50 | #980 |
| 1919 | 7 | #4,062 | 41 | #1,072 |
| 1918 | 11 | #2,922 | 41 | #1,071 |
| 1917 | 5 | #4,970 | 36 | #1,126 |
| 1916 | 12 | #2,580 | 29 | #1,254 |
| 1915 | 10 | #2,811 | 27 | #1,290 |
| 1914 | 5 | #3,933 | 22 | #1,291 |
| 1913 | 10 | #2,100 | 22 | #1,097 |
| 1912 | under 5 | 19 | #1,078 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 11 | #1,088 | |
| 1910 | 5 | #2,610 | 12 | #965 |
| 1909 | under 5 | 6 | #1,383 | |
| 1908 | under 5 | 11 | #859 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 7 | #1,068 | |
| 1905 | under 5 | 10 | #821 | |
| 1904 | under 5 | 7 | #1,027 | |
| 1903 | under 5 | 17 | #541 | |
| 1901 | under 5 | 6 | #1,007 | |
| 1900 | under 5 | 10 | #878 | |
| 1898 | under 5 | 8 | #850 | |
| 1897 | under 5 | 5 | #1,157 | |
| 1896 | under 5 | 5 | #1,192 | |
| 1893 | 5 | #1,546 | under 5 | |
| 1883 | under 5 | 5 | #977 | |
| 1882 | under 5 | 6 | #902 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Lesley a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 39,098 Americans recorded as Lesley, 88% are girls and 12% boys. In 2025 it went to 30 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Lesley: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Lesley, and how old are they?
34,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 87% of the 39,098 Americans ever recorded as Lesley. The median Lesley alive today is 47 years old; half are between 32 and 58.
The 2020 Census counted 34,454 people named Lesley (31,828 women and girls, 2,626 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 35,002 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 520 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 5,380 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 12,300 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 8,310 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 6,740 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 816 |
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 Lesley born?
The states with the most babies named Lesley are California, Texas and New York, with 36% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 5,169 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Texas | 3,722 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| New York | 2,541 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 1,663 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 1,396 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 1,138 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 1,086 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Florida | 1,024 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| New Jersey | 957 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Massachusetts | 924 | not ranked | 0.9× |
Where Lesley is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Lesley is most over-represented in Texas: since 1910 it was given 1.3 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 girls’ 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 Lesley 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 8 names spelled alike, given to 452,532 babies since 1880, Lesley is the second most given (8.6% of them). In 2025 it was given to 30 of their 617 babies (4.9%), the third most given that year.
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 Lesley
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 Lesley and names like it
- Compare Lesley and LeslieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sLesley peaked in 1980.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Lesley since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Lesley: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1980The year the most babies were named Lesley.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Lesley alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with LMost given first.