Les
A diminutive of Leslie, a name derived from an English surname of disputed origin.
Name Census estimates that about 2,610 living Americans carry the first name Les. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Les today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Les births was 1961 (188 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Les. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Les with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.6K
~ 1 in 131,324 Americans
Peak year
1961
188 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,245
Tracked since 1900
Census
Les in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,287 people with the first name Les, which placed it at #3,370 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,370
National first-name rank
People counted
6.3K
6,287 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Les
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Les is White at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Hispanic (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Les described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Les at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.4% · 5,178
- Black or African American5.9% · 370
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 238
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 221
- Two or more races2.9% · 182
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 98
Gender
Gender distribution for Les
Out of the 3,469 babies given the name Les since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Les as a male name
- Ranked #13,390 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1961 (182 births)
Les as a female name
- Ranked #6,245 in 1961
- 6 female births in 1961
- Peak: 1958 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Les leans strongly male. 6,035 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 249 female bearers (4.0%).
Popularity
Les: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Les from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,078 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Les by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Les during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Les' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Les, while Utah, Oregon, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Les
The name Les is a shortened form of the name Leslie, which has its origins in the Scottish Borders region. It is believed to have derived from an Old Scots surname that referred to a person living near a leas or meadow. The name was originally a habitational name, meaning it identified where a person lived or came from.
In its earliest recorded use, the name appeared as Lesselyn or Lesselyne in the early 13th century. It was initially a surname before transitioning into a masculine given name. The name gained popularity in Scotland during the Middle Ages and was later adopted in England and other parts of the British Isles.
One of the earliest known historical references to the name Les can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which documented Scottish nobles who swore fealty to King Edward I of England. Several individuals with the surname Lesselyn or Lesselyne are listed in these rolls.
Over the centuries, the name Les has been borne by various notable figures. One such example is Les Hinton (1919-2006), an English journalist and newspaper executive who served as the chairman and chief executive officer of News International, a subsidiary of News Corp.
Another prominent individual with the name Les is Les Paul (1915-2009), an American guitarist, songwriter, and inventor who pioneered the development of the solid-body electric guitar and contributed significantly to the advancement of recording techniques.
In the field of sports, Les Bury (1913-1986) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a winger for clubs like Arsenal and Cardiff City during the 1930s and 1940s.
Les Leston (1920-2012) was a Canadian actor known for his roles in television series like The Littlest Hobo and Danger Bay.
Les Blank (1935-2013) was an American documentary filmmaker and director renowned for his films that celebrated the cultural traditions and music of various communities, particularly in the American South and Southwest.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Les, showcasing its enduring presence across various fields and cultures.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Les
People
Les + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Les as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Les: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Les?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,610 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Les going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 131,324 US residents.
Is Les a common name?
We classify Les as "Rare". It ranks above 94.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,469 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Les most popular?
The single biggest year for Les was 1961, when 188 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Les is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Les in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,287 people with the name Les, or 2.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,370 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Les in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Les?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Les leans strongly male. 6,035 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 249 female bearers (4.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Les?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Les is White at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Black (5.9%) and Hispanic (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Les most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Les in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.4% (5,178 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Les in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Les a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Les in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Les still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Les in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Les can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Les?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.