Recorded 1882–2025 · United States
Lesley was most popular in 1980, when 981 American babies were given the name — ranking #498 that year. In 2025 it ranked #7,878, with 30 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 39,098 people named Lesley.
Lesley first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1882, which makes it about 143 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 130 of the 144 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 39,098 American births named Lesley between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 34,487 are estimated to be alive today.
30 American babies were named Lesley in 2025, ranking #7,878 that year.
Lesley is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 37 births a year, against 130 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -71% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Lesley is mostly a girl’s name — 87.7% of the 39,098 Americans given it were girls and 12.3% were boys. It changed hands: since 1941 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 98% girls and 2% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 34,487 Americans named Lesley are alive today — 88% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 47 years old, and half are between 32 and 58.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Lesley on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org