Lessie vs Lester
American parents have registered 132,047 Lesters since 1880, against 15,018 Lessies. Lester is still ahead, with 103 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Lessie Lester
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
Lester has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.
The closest they came was 1898, when Lessie had 140 and Lester had 307.
Side by side
| Lessie | Lester | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 15,018 | 132,047 |
| Most in one year | 407 | 3,265 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 103 |
| Estimated living today | 3,100 | 43,000 |
| Median age today | 74 | 66 |
| Peak year | 1916 | 1918 |
| Best rank | 309th girls | 62nd boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 1,634th |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 14,073 / 945 | 1,359 / 130,688 |
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 Lesters are over 66. That is 8 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Lessie Mississippi (9.0×), South Carolina (6.4×), Alabama (6.2×)
- Lester South Dakota (2.4×), North Dakota (2.2×), Louisiana (1.9×)
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: Lessie and Lester.