Mostly girls · peaked in 1979
Lesley name popularity since 1925
38,382 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Lesley (89.1% girls, 10.9% boys). Half of them were born in 1977 or earlier, so the typical Lesley is about 49 years old in 2026. Lesley peaked in 1979 as the #268 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 38,382
- Named Lesley, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #4,617 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 89.1% girls
- 34,180 girls · 4,202 boys
- Most popular in
- California
- 1.54× its national share
Peak year is the year Lesley made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Lesley births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1980. Measured as a share of all babies, Lesley peaked in 1979.
- Fastest rise: Between 1960 and 1965, Lesley became 3.5× more common, from 1 in 8,290 baby girls to 1 in 2,370.
- Steepest fall: Between 2007 and 2012, its share of baby girls fell by 59%, from 1 in 5,450 to 1 in 13,400.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Lesley's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Lesley.
Decade by decade
Babies named Lesley in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 61 | 227 | – |
| 1930s | 219 | 363 | #1,404 |
| 1940s | 1,423 | 630 | #644 |
| 1950s | 3,125 | 809 | #506 |
| 1960s | 5,137 | 848 | #330 |
| 1970s | 7,719 | 628 | #321 |
| 1980s | 6,402 | 376 | #401 |
| 1990s | 4,638 | 193 | #741 |
| 2000s | 4,124 | 100 | #716 |
| 2010s | 1,095 | 28 | #2,050 |
| 2020–25 | 237 | 0 | #4,617 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
34.7% of babies named Lesley from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Lesley is most popular
The index compares Lesley's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Lesley.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| California | 1.54× | 5,169 |
| Texas | 1.48× | 3,683 |
| Kentucky | 1.24× | 657 |
| Massachusetts | 1.22× | 924 |
| New Jersey | 1.10× | 957 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Lesley and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Lesley (this page) | 34,180 | 1979 |
| Leslie | 268,305 | 1969 |
| Lesly | 15,281 | 2003 |
| Lesli | 5,799 | 2001 |
| Leslee | 4,897 | 1973 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Lesley's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Lesley.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Lesley (1979).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data