Les vs Lessie
American parents have registered 15,018 Lessies since 1880, against 3,480 Leses. But in 2025 it was Les that was commoner, 11 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Les Lessie
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 146 years in which either name was published, Lessie for 90 years and Les for 56 years. The lead changed hands 19 times.
16 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Les | Lessie | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 3,480 | 15,018 |
| Most in one year | 188 | 407 |
| Babies in 2025 | 11 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 2,500 | 3,100 |
| Median age today | 63 | 74 |
| Peak year | 1961 | 1916 |
| Best rank | 586th boys | 309th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 7,194th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1900 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 32 / 3,448 | 14,073 / 945 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Lessies alive today are over 74; half the Leses are over 63. That is 11 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Les Washington (5.4×), California (3.4×), Illinois (1.7×)
- Lessie Mississippi (9.0×), South Carolina (6.4×), Alabama (6.2×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Les and Lessie.