Lesly
A feminine name of French origin meaning "grey warrior" or "grey battle".
Name Census estimates that about 15,142 living Americans carry the first name Lesly. It is a predominantly female name (96.8% of registrations). The average person named Lesly today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lesly births was 2003 (847 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lesly. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Lesly is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 504 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 22,636 Americans
Peak year
2003
847 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2012 SSA rank
#1,100
Tracked since 1919
Census
Lesly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 15,377 people with the first name Lesly, which placed it at #1,871 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
#1,871
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
15,377 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
85.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lesly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lesly is Hispanic at 85.4%. The next largest groups are White (7.0%) and Black (6.2%). 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 Lesly 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 Lesly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino85.4% · 13,132
- White7.0% · 1,069
- Black or African American6.2% · 955
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 136
- Two or more races0.4% · 57
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 28
Gender
Gender distribution for Lesly
Lesly leans heavily female at 96.8% of total registrations, but 504 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lesly as a male name
- Ranked #13,429 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 1989 (16 births)
Lesly as a female name
- Ranked #1,100 in 2024
- 222 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (839 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lesly leans strongly female. 14,345 people counted with this name were female (93.3%), compared with 1,027 male bearers (6.7%).
Popularity
Lesly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lesly from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 7,504 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lesly 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 Lesly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leslys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Lesly, while Idaho, Delaware, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 338 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lesly
The given name Lesly has its origins in the Germanic language, derived from the Old German word "Lescelin" or "Lesceline," which means "little darling" or "little sweetheart." This name was prevalent during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions where Germanic tribes settled, such as parts of modern-day Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
The earliest recorded use of the name Lesly can be traced back to the 12th century, where it was sometimes spelled as "Lesceline" or "Lescelin." One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Lesceline de Vermandois, a French noblewoman who lived in the late 12th century and was known for her piety and charitable works.
In the 13th century, the name Lesly appeared in various historical records and documents, often associated with individuals of noble or influential backgrounds. For instance, Lesly de Marle was a French knight who participated in the Seventh Crusade during the 13th century.
As the name spread across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, such as "Leslie," "Lesly," and "Lesley." One notable figure with this name was Lesley of Scotland, a 16th-century Scottish nobleman who played a significant role in the Scottish Reformation and served as the Earl of Rothes.
Another individual of historical significance was Lesly Grogan, an Irish soldier and military leader who served in the French army during the 17th century. He was known for his bravery and military exploits during the Thirty Years' War and the Franco-Spanish War.
In the 18th century, Lesly Pole, an English novelist and playwright, gained recognition for her literary works, including the novel "The Travels of Cyrus" and several plays that were performed on the London stage.
Moving into the 19th century, Lesly Stahl, an American journalist and correspondent for CBS News, was born in 1941. She is renowned for her investigative reporting and has covered numerous high-profile stories throughout her career.
While the name Lesly has its roots in the Germanic language and was initially more common in parts of Europe, it has since gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries like the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
People
Lesly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lesly 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
Lesly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lesly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,142 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lesly 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 22,636 US residents.
Is Lesly a common name?
We classify Lesly as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,635 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lesly most popular?
The single biggest year for Lesly was 2003, when 847 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lesly is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lesly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 15,377 people with the name Lesly, or 5.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,871 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 Lesly 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 Lesly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lesly leans strongly female. 14,345 people counted with this name were female (93.3%), compared with 1,027 male bearers (6.7%). 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 Lesly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lesly is Hispanic at 85.4%. The next largest groups are White (7.0%) and Black (6.2%). 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 Lesly most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Lesly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.4% (13,132 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 Lesly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lesly a female name?
Yes, 96.8% of people registered as Lesly in the SSA data are female. 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 Lesly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lesly 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 Lesly 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 have Lesly as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Lesly on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.