Letesha
A feminine name of African American origin meaning "to live happy and content".
Name Census estimates that about 184 living Americans carry the first name Letesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Letesha today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Letesha births was 1979 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Letesha. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Letesha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
184
~ 1 in 1,862,795 Americans
Peak year
1979
18 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1995 SSA rank
#10,116
Tracked since 1972
Census
Letesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 186 people with the first name Letesha, which placed it at #40,168 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#40,168
National first-name rank
People counted
186
186 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Letesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Letesha is Black at 78.0%. The next largest groups are White (9.7%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Letesha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Letesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.0% · 145
- White9.7% · 18
- Two or more races7.5% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 4
Popularity
Letesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Letesha from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 100 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Letesha by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Letesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leteshas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Letesha
The name Letesha is a modern invention that appears to have originated in the United States in the late 20th century. It does not have any known ancient roots or connections to historical figures or events. The name seems to be a creative combination of the common English name Letitia and the suffix "-sha", which may have been inspired by names of African or Arabic origin.
While there are no definitive records of the name's origin, it is believed to have gained popularity as a unique and distinctive name choice for baby girls born in the United States, particularly among African American families. The name's rise in usage likely coincided with a broader cultural trend towards more diverse and unconventional baby names.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Letesha is Letesha Renee, an American businesswoman and entrepreneur born in the late 1970s. She founded a successful hair extension company called "Indique Hair" and has become a prominent figure in the beauty industry.
Another notable Letesha is Letesha Willetts, a former track and field athlete from the United States. She competed in the long jump and triple jump events at the international level, representing her country in various competitions throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.
In the entertainment industry, Letesha Marrow is an American actress and model known for her roles in television shows and films such as "The Game" and "Dysfunktional Family". She was born in the late 1970s and has been active in the industry since the early 2000s.
Letesha Samms is an American singer and songwriter who rose to prominence in the early 2000s with her debut album "Living Out Loud". She has collaborated with several well-known artists and has earned recognition for her unique blend of R&B and pop music.
Letesha Samantha Brown is an author and motivational speaker from the United States. She has written several books on personal development, self-empowerment, and overcoming adversity, drawing from her own life experiences. Her work has inspired and encouraged many readers around the world.
While the name Letesha is relatively new and lacks a deep historical or cultural significance, it has gained popularity in recent decades as a unique and distinctive name choice for baby girls, particularly among African American families in the United States.
People
Letesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Letesha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Letesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Letesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 184 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Letesha going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,862,795 US residents.
Is Letesha a common name?
We classify Letesha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 197 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Letesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Letesha was 1979, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Letesha is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Letesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 186 people with the name Letesha, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,168 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Letesha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Letesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Letesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 182 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Letesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Letesha is Black at 78.0%. The next largest groups are White (9.7%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Letesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Letesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.0% (145 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Letesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Letesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Letesha in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Letesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Letesha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Letesha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Letesha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.