Les
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Meaning
a short form of Leslie, from a Scottish place name probably meaning "garden of holly", or of Lester, from the city of Leicester
How popular is Les around the world?
In the United States, 45 babies were named Les between 2020 and 2025.
Les is on the official records of the United States.
United States
1 in 480,000
In the United States, 45 babies were named Les between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Les has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
last on record 1996
Les is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
last on record 2001
Les is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on 14 other recordsWhy
- Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
- Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.
- Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years.
- Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.
- Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only).
- Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Les
Most people given the name Les in the United States were born between 1950 and 1979. The Les you meet today is most often in his 50s or 60s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Les deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Les truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Les fits with your family’s names and surname.
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