Weller
A masculine given name derived from Middle English meaning "spring of water".
Name Census estimates that about 151 living Americans carry the first name Weller. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Weller today is around 4 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Weller births was 2024 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Weller. 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.
People living today
151
~ 1 in 2,269,896 Americans
Peak year
2024
40 babies that year
Average age
4
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,090
Tracked since 2018
Popularity
Weller: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Weller from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 131 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Weller 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 Weller during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wellers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio recorded the most babies named Weller, while Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Weller
The name Weller has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "wealh," which means "foreigner" or "stranger." This name was initially used to refer to individuals from lands outside of England, particularly those from what is now known as Wales or other parts of the British Isles.
During the Middle Ages, the name Weller was commonly found in various regions of England, particularly in the southern and central counties. It was often used as a descriptive surname for those who had originated from Wales or other neighboring regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Weller can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears in various spellings, such as "Walere" and "Walre," indicating its widespread usage during that period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Weller. One of the earliest was Walter Weller, a 13th-century English landowner and knight who fought in the Barons' War against King Henry III during the mid-1200s.
In the 16th century, John Weller (c. 1505 - c. 1570) was an English Protestant reformer and author who wrote several treatises on theology and church reform during the reign of King Edward VI.
During the 18th century, Edward Weller (1735 - 1810) was a prominent English composer and organist who composed numerous works for the church and served as the organist at St. James's Church in Bury St. Edmunds.
In the 19th century, Samuel Weller (1803 - 1875) was a notable English cricketer who played for the Marylebone Cricket Club and was a renowned batsman of his time.
Another prominent figure was Thomas Weller (1915 - 2008), an American virologist and microbiologist who co-discovered the polio virus with John Enders and Frederick Robbins, for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1954.
Throughout its history, the name Weller has maintained a strong presence, particularly in England and other parts of the British Isles, reflecting its roots in the Old English language and its association with the concept of being a "foreigner" or "stranger."
People
Weller + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Weller as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Weller: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Weller?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 151 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Weller 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 2,269,896 US residents.
Is Weller a common name?
We classify Weller as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 152 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Weller most popular?
The single biggest year for Weller was 2024, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Weller is about 4 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Weller in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Weller a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Weller in the SSA data are male. 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 Weller still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Weller 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 Weller 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Weller?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Weller at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.