Less

♂ Boy

How to Pronounce Less

Pronounced LESS /ˈlɛs/High

Meaning: Less is a clipped pet form, usually of Lester or Leslie. Lester is an English place-name surname (from Leicester, a Roman fortified town); Leslie is a Scottish place name often read as 'holly garden.' Given as a full name, Less reads as a short nickname-name.Low

In 30 seconds: Less is a clipped short form of Lester or Leslie (say it LESS). A blunt, folksy early-century name.

💕 Browse more names

Origin LowEnglish, Scottish

MeaningLess is a clipped pet form, usually of Lester or Leslie. Lester is an English place-name surname (from Leicester, a Roman fortified town); Leslie is a Scottish place name often read as 'holly garden.' Given as a full name, Less reads as a short nickname-name.

U.S. rank (1957)#3430 ↗ Rising

1957 U.S. births7 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)

Peak year1923

Total births (all-time)≈ 281

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Less is a short form of Lester or Leslie, given as a first name in the early twentieth century. Lester comes from Leicester, a Roman fortified town; Leslie is a Scottish place name read as 'holly garden.' It stayed rare, cresting at only about fifteen boys a year around 1923 with a long thin tail on either side.

A Less from its peak would belong to a great-grandfather's generation. Its blunt one-beat sound sits beside Les, Lester, and Wes - the clipped vintage boy names - and it reads as plain and antique. It works as an easy short form of a formal Lester.

Did you know? Less trims Lester or Leslie right down to one syllable - part of an old habit of giving a plain nickname straight to a son as his legal name.

Overall data confidence 30%

References - Less — Short form of Lester/Leslie

Variations

LesLesterLeslie

Nicknames

Les

Famous Bearers

Famous bearers coming soon.

If you like Less…

Les— the standard short spelling of the same name

Lester— a formal name Less shortens

Leslie— the other name behind the nickname

Wes— a like clipped one-beat boy name

Explore names like Less

By themevintage short nickname-name folksy

All themes →All meanings →All origins →

Frequently Asked

What does the name Less mean?

Less carries the sense of Lester (from a Roman town) or Leslie ('holly garden'), depending on the family.

How do you pronounce Less?

It is said LESS, one syllable, like the word 'less.'

Is Less a boy or a girl name?

Less has been used mainly for boys as a short form of Lester or Leslie.

Is Less a popular name?

No. Less has always been rare as a first name, reaching its modest best around nineteen-twenty-three.