Lester Name Origin, Meaning and Family History

Lester Name Meaning: A variant of 'Lister',meaning 'son of the arrow maker'.Deriving from 'Leicester',county town of Leicestershire.

The name is of Anglo-Saxon origin.The earliest recorded spelling is that of 'Hugo De Legrecestra',dated 1130.

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Surname Distribution

Census frequency by county

Name Concentrations Within England and Wales

Lester Surname Statistics


Top Professions for the Lester family

Profession Census Frequency
Scholar 993
Agricultural Labourer 109
Coal Miner 58
General Labourer 53
Labourer 47
Dress Maker 44
Domestic Servant 38
General Servant 33
Laundress 31
Annuitant 19
General Servant Domestic 18
Farm Labourer 18
Bricklayer 17
House Keeper 16
No Occupation 16
Servant 16
Gardener 15
Shoe Maker 15
Farm Servant Indoor 14
Cotton Weaver 13
Charwoman 12
Carter 12
Boot Maker 11
Silk Weaver 11
Tailor 10

Lester Surname Variants Ranking

Rank Surname Match Census Frequency
1 Lister 83% 54,853
2 Lester 100% 34,712
3 Leicester 67% 4,707
4 Laister 71% 1,708
5 Leister 86% 940
6 Laster 83% 903
7 Loster 83% 493
8 Luster 83% 259
9 Alister 71% 247
10 Elster 67% 158
11 Leaster 86% 145
12 Lestor 83% 101

Did you know?

The surname Lester is the 2nd most popular variant of Lister.

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