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Les

#7,468 in 2025Boys' name

Short form of Leslie

Les has been given to 3,480 babies in the U.S. since 1900. In 2025 it ranked #7,468 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1961, with 182 recorded.

Babies named Les, 2025

1 in 301,000

Les over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Les: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Leslie

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Les means

Les is a short form of Leslie.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Les → Leslie. The family’s meaning is “garden of hollies”, recorded in English with the source elements cuileann.

Origin, language, and formation

Les is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Leslie and Lester.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,448 boys were recorded with the name Les between 1900 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 182 in 1961; its best national rank was #587 in 1961.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #7,852 in 2020 to #7,468 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #7,822 in 2015 to #7,468 in 2025.

In the United States, 32 girls were recorded with the name Les between 1954 and 1961. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1958; its best national rank was #3,837 in 1958.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Les?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 301,000
11 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 155,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#7,468
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
208,901 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Les sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 208,901 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Les. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Less were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Les was born before 1960 — so the typical Les is around 65 today.

Median birth year
1960
About 65 years old
Biggest decade
1960s
31.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
5.7%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
2,637
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1960s — 31.1% of all recorded uses (1,072).

Is Les rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+5,971
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+384
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+354
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.10×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
6.0%
Peak was 1961 (182)
Years since peak
64
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
34.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#587
1961

Where Les is used

Across 1910–2025, Les was most concentrated in Washington — about 1 in 25,000 boys, against 1 in 103,920 across all states with data. It was least common in Utah (1 in —).

04 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Washington1 in 25,000
  2. 2California1 in 50,000
  3. 3Colorado1 in 100,000
  4. 4Hawaii1 in 100,000
  5. 5Illinois1 in 100,000
  6. 6Michigan1 in 100,000
  7. 7Minnesota1 in 100,000
  8. 8Montana1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Les has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Les around the world

Where Les ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–1996
    #2,863
    in 1996
  • South Australia
    1949–2001
    #399
    in 2001

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Les

People whose public names include Les, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Les in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Les. Linked forms have their own page here.

Oles

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Les by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#7,468
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 384
Best rank ever
#587
1961
Peak year
1961
182 that year
First recorded
1900
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,448
Count in 2025
11

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,837
1958
Peak year
1958
11 that year
First recorded
1954
Last recorded
1961
All-time count
32
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Les

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

NilesGilesJulesLesleyNylesLestatJilesLeshawnLessLeslyStilesLessieStylesAchillesPlesWellesMylesLeslieLeseanLesterAquilesHerculesMilesCarles

Names with a curve like Les

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Les, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

SusanTimmieKarenVicRussRoddyLonnyMauryKennthStanRandelKenney

Sibling names for Les

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Les

Top names of 1961, Les's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1961Boys' names starting with L