Recorded 1946–2025 · United States
Lesli was most popular in 2001, when 166 American babies were given the name — ranking #2,121 that year. In 2025 it ranked #13,540, with 13 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 5,799 people named Lesli.
Lesli first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1946, which makes it about 79 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 80 of the 80 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 5,799 American births named Lesli 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 5,480 are estimated to be alive today.
13 American babies were named Lesli in 2025, ranking #13,540 that year.
Lesli is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 15 births a year, against 36 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -57% 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 Lesli is a girl’s name — 100.0% of the 5,799 Americans given it were girls and 0.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% 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 5,480 Americans named Lesli are alive today — 95% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 43 years old, and half are between 24 and 58. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
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.
A variant of Leslie · Scottish · a place name, "garden of hollies"
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Lesli on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org