Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Lesley?
Births per year, rank history and how many Lesleys are alive today.
Lesley (female), once a common girls' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 6 in 2024, ranked 3696th. The name peaked in 1954, when around 3,300 babies were given the name, the 19th most popular that year. It has declined since 1954; the 2024 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. At least 52,000 babies have been named Lesley in England and Wales since 1944. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
The Lesley you are most likely to meet is around 72 years old. Half of all Lesleys born in England and Wales are between 64 and 75, and there are at least 49,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 14% chance that at least one of them will be called Lesley.
How many babies are named Lesley each year?
Where does Lesley rank among girls' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Lesley most popular?
Lesley peaked in 1954, when around 3,300 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Lesley?
At least 49,000 people named Lesley born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Lesley?
Most living Lesleys are between 64 and 75; the most common age is about 72.
Is Lesley becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1954 peak.