Boys' name · peaked in 1906
Lester name popularity since 1925
86,824 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Lester (0.9% girls, 99.1% boys). Half of them were born in 1948 or earlier, so the typical Lester is about 78 years old in 2026. Lester peaked in 1906 as the #52 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 86,824
- Named Lester, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1906
- #52 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,641 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.1% boys
- 788 girls · 86,036 boys
- Most popular in
- Louisiana
- 2.29× its national share
Peak year is the year Lester made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Lester births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Lester peaked earlier, in 1906.
- Steepest fall: Between 1993 and 1998, Lester's share of baby boys fell by 46%, from 1 in 7,780 to 1 in 14,400.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Lester's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Lester.
Decade by decade
Babies named Lester in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 156 | 11,873 | – |
| 1930s | 180 | 16,984 | #114 |
| 1940s | 148 | 17,082 | #131 |
| 1950s | 147 | 16,568 | #168 |
| 1960s | 94 | 9,741 | #237 |
| 1970s | 46 | 5,110 | #344 |
| 1980s | 17 | 3,570 | #485 |
| 1990s | 0 | 2,080 | #801 |
| 2000s | 0 | 1,373 | #1,239 |
| 2010s | 0 | 1,045 | #1,561 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 610 | #1,641 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
36.4% of babies named Lester from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Lester is most popular
The index compares Lester'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 Lester.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 2.29× | 3,436 |
| Mississippi | 2.08× | 2,103 |
| South Dakota | 1.92× | 512 |
| Hawaii | 1.76× | 460 |
| North Dakota | 1.73× | 456 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Lester's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Lester.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Lester (1906).
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