# Lester (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/lester/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Old English derived from the English place name Leicester.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 44,784 |
| US rank (2010) | 768 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 6,894 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.0% (43,919 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈlɛstɚ/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an English surname, from the placename Leicester. * Also as an English surname of Norman origin, from Lestre in Normandy, from Old French Lestra, from Medieval Latin Laxtra, perhaps from extera (“exterior (part of a property)”). * As an English and Scottish surname, variant of Lister. * Also as an English surname, variant of Laster. * As a Scottish and Irish surname, shortened from McLester.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Lester in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 76% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 19% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.2% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Lester in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

## People named Lester

- Richard Lester, American film director
- Mark Lester, British actor
- Tom Lester, American actor and evangelist (1938-2020)
- Adrian Lester, British actor, director, and writer
- Ketty Lester, American actress, recording artist
- Mark L. Lester, American film director (born 1946)
- Jon Lester, American professional baseball pitcher (born 1984)
- Ron Lester, American actor
- Buddy Lester, American comedian and actor (1917–2002)
- Loren Lester, American actor (born 1960)
- Julia Lester, American actress
- Ronnie Lester, American basketball player (born 1959)

and 5 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Lassiter, Laster, Lister, Luster, Leister, Lasater, Lasseter, Lasiter, Laughter, Lucatero, Lastra, Lichter.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.