Lester
About Lester
A popular choice in the US in the early 20th-century, Lester made the Top 100 consistently for 46 years between 1886 and 1931. It then remained in the Top 500 until the mid-80s before dropping out of the charts in the late 90s. Since then, it's been given to around 100 babies each year, making it an out-of-style but not forgotten name.
Derived from the English place-name and surname, Leicester, this streamlined, phonetic form was in its prime alongside Elmer, Chester, Sylvester, Hester, Melvin, and Leroy. Its meaning comes from the Latin castra, referring to a fortified or military camp, blended with the name of a river.
While retro and vintage names are on trend at the moment, contemporary parents may be put off by Lester's similarity and rhyme with "molester" or "pester", preferring instead options like Ledger and Everest, or alternative vintage names such as Walter, Wes, and Maurice.
As of October 2026, Lester ranked #1641 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #52 in 1906, Nameberry popularity #654.
Editor's take: The name Lester is a boy's name of English origin meaning "military camp by the river Ligore".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,519 | 106 | 55.2 |
| 2015 | #1,560 | 104 | 54.3 |
| 2016 | #1,569 | 105 | 55.3 |
| 2017 | #1,772 | 87 | 47 |
| 2018 | #1,694 | 93 | 51.2 |
| 2019 | #1,639 | 100 | 55.7 |
| 2020 | #1,531 | 109 | 63.1 |
| 2021 | #1,588 | 109 | 62.3 |
| 2022 | #1,765 | 94 | 53.8 |
| 2023 | #1,921 | 82 | 47.9 |
| 2024 | #1,580 | 109 | 63.3 |
| 2025 | #1,641 | 103 | 60.3 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Lester.
- Gunther
- Buchanan
- Dougal
- Stewart
- Newton
- Gil
- Rutherford
- Elroy
- Sherman
- Job
- Hans
- Randolph
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- Doyle
- Garth
- Dirk
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Lester on lists
Famous Lesters
- Lester Holt
American news anchor
- Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson
former Canadian Prime Minister
- Lester Keith Piggott
English jockey
- Lester Willis Young
American jazz saxophonist
- Lester del Rey (born Leonard Knapp)
American science fiction novelist and editor
- Lester Bowie
American jazz trumpeter
- Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs
American rock music journalist
- (Curtis) Lester Patrick aka Les
The Silver Fox, Canadian ice hockey player
- Lester Garfield Maddox
Sr., American politician, governor of Georgia
- Lester B. Pearson
winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace
- Philip "Phil" Michael Lester
English radio presenter and Internet personality
- Lester Raymond "Les" Brown
American clarinetist and bandleader
- Lester John Thomas "Les" Costello
Canadian ice hockey player and priest
- Lester William Polsfuss
birth name of Les Paul, American guitarist and luthier
- Lester "Les" Tremayne
Anglo,American actor
- Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson
American golfer
Lester in pop culture
- Lester Burnham
main character of the film "American Beauty"
- Lester "Worm" Murphy
from the movie "Rounders"
- Lester Nygaard
character from the television show "Fargo"
- Archduke Lester DeRosso
holder of the Vampire Asterisk in "Bravely Default"
- Lester Papadopoulos
main character in Rick Riordan's The Trials Of Apollo
- Lester McKinley
brother of title character Alice in the Alice book series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
- Lester the lab rat
character in the 90's Children's Educational show "Beakman's World"