Les (given name)

Les is a given name, usually short for Lester or Leslie. Also, a romanization of Ukrainian name Лесь [ˈlɛsʲ]. Les may refer to:

People:

• Les Aspin (1938–1995), American politician
• Les AuCoin (born 1942), American politician
• Les Baxter (1922–1996), American musician and composer
• Les Blank (1935–2013), American documentary filmmaker
• Les Brown (bandleader) (1912–2001), American jazz musician and bandleader
• Les Brown (speaker) (born 1945), American motivational speaker and politician
• Les Claypool (born 1963), American rock bassist and founding member of Primus
• Les Costello (1928–2002), Canadian ice hockey player and Catholic priest
• Les Crane (1933–2008), American broadcaster and talk show host
• Les Darcy (1895–1917), Australian boxer
• Les Dawson (1931–1993), English comedian
• Les Dennis (born 1953), English television presenter
• Les Dodd (born 1954), English snooker player
• Les Eaves (born c. 1967), American businessman and state legislator
• Les Edwards (born 1949), British illustrator
• Les Elgart (1917–1995), American jazz trumpeter and bandleader
• Les Ferdinand (born 1966), English football coach and former player
• Les Fradkin (born 1951), American guitarist and composer
• Les Gleadell (1921–2009), Falkland Islands civil servant
• Les Goble (1932–2019), American National Football League player
• Les Gold (born 1950), American pawnbroker and media personality
• Les Gray (1946–2004), English singer and songwriter
• Les Green (1941–2012), English footballer and manager
• Les Greenberg (born 1945), Canadian psychologist
• Les Guthman, American filmmaker
• Les Humphries (born 1940), Founder of the Les Humphries Singers
• Les Kaufman, evolutionary ecologist, Professor of Biology at Boston University
• Les Kurbas (1887–1937), Ukrainian movie and theater director. Considered to be one of the lead figures of the Executed Renaissance
• Les McCann (born 1935), American soul jazz and R&B pianist and vocalist
• Les McKeown (1955–2021), Scottish pop singer, lead singer of the Bay City Rollers
• Les Mills (born 1934), New Zealand shot putter, discus thrower and politician
• Les Munro (1919-2015), New Zealand Air Force pilot
• Les Palmer (American football) (1923–2006), American National Football League player
• Les Paul, stage name of American jazz guitarist and inventor Lester William Polsfuss (1915–2009)
• Les Podervianskyi (born 1952), Ukrainian painter, poet, playwright and performer
• Les Reed (footballer) (1932–2021), Australian rules footballer
• Les Reed (football coach) (born 1952), English football coach and manager
• Les Reed (songwriter) (1935–2019), English songwriter, arranger, musician and light orchestra leader
• Les Serdyuk (1940–2010), Soviet and Ukrainian theater and film actor
• Les Shannon (1926–2007), English football player and manager
• Les Stroud (born 1961), Canadian filmmaker and survival expert, creator, writer, producer, director, cameraman and host of the television series Survivorman
• Les Tanyuk (1938–2016), Ukrainian theater and film director, dissident and politician
• Les Tremayne (1913–2003), British radio, film, and television actor

Fictional characters:

• Les Battersby, a fictional character in Coronation Street
• Les Nessman, a fictional character in WKRP in Cincinnati
• Les, a fictional character in the Bring It On film series
• Les, a fictional character in Newsies
• Les, a fictional character in The Search for One-eye Jimmy
• Lifesaver Les, a fictional character in Pizza (TV series)