How Many People Are Named Richard Lester?
There are approximately 224 people named Richard Lester living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,530,153 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Richard with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Lester. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.
Estimated People with This Name
224
1 in 1,530,153 Americans
Combination Rarity
Uncommon
First Name
View full profileRichard
Last Name
View full profileLester
Richard: Popularity Over Time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Richard. The peak year was 1946 with 58,991 births. The average person named Richard today is 62 years old.
Ancestry of the First Name Richard
In the 2020 Census, the first name Richard was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (82.26%). The next largest recorded groups were Hispanic (7.96%) and Black (5.21%).
These percentages describe the people who had the first name Richard in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.
Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Richard rose or fell over time.
Ancestry of the Lester Surname
The surname Lester was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.
This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Lester in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.
How we calculated this
The first name "Richard" has an estimated frequency of 0.458% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.
The surname "Lester" appears at a rate of 14.28 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.
We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Richard are likely to be alive now.
Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 224 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.
Other people named Richard
Other people with the surname Lester
Richard Lester: Questions and Answers
How many people are named Richard Lester?
We estimate approximately 224 people named Richard Lester are alive in the United States today. The first name Richard is shared by 1,568,549 Americans, and the surname Lester is shared by 48,956.
How rare is the name Richard Lester?
This name combination is classified as Uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,530,153 Americans. The first name Richard is very common and the surname Lester is uncommon.
Is Richard a male or female name?
Richard is predominantly male, with 99.6% of bearers being male and 0.4% female. It peaked in popularity in 1946 and the average bearer today is 62 years old.
What does the Census say about the first name Richard?
In the 2020 Census, the first name Richard was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (82.26%). The next largest recorded groups were Hispanic (7.96%) and Black (5.21%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.
Where does this data come from?
First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.
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