Wesley
A masculine name of English origin meaning "from the western meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 194,485 living Americans carry the first name Wesley. It sits at #58 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Wesley today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wesley births was 2024 (5,231 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Lillian (193,349).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wesley. 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 Wesley with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Wesley is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 3,155 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
194K
~ 1 in 1,762 Americans
Peak year
2024
5,231 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#58
Tracked since 1880
Census
Wesley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 155,432 people with the first name Wesley, which placed it at #362 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
#362
National first-name rank
People counted
155K
155,432 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
51.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wesley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wesley is White at 78.4%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Wesley 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 Wesley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.4% · 121,863
- Black or African American8.6% · 13,350
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 7,132
- Two or more races4.4% · 6,852
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 4,776
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1,459
Gender
Gender distribution for Wesley
Wesley leans heavily male at 98.7% of total registrations, but 3,155 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Wesley as a male name
- Ranked #58 in 2024
- 5,144 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (5,144 births)
Wesley as a female name
- Ranked #2,187 in 2024
- 87 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (133 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wesley leans strongly male. 153,717 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 1,717 female bearers (1.1%).
Popularity
Wesley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wesley from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 31,634 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Wesley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wesley 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 Wesley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,186 | 0 | 1,186 |
| 1890s | 1,365 | 5 | 1,370 |
| 1900s | 1,693 | 0 | 1,693 |
| 1910s | 7,603 | 84 | 7,687 |
| 1920s | 12,861 | 109 | 12,970 |
| 1930s | 10,937 | 118 | 11,055 |
| 1940s | 12,465 | 149 | 12,614 |
| 1950s | 18,073 | 133 | 18,206 |
| 1960s | 18,808 | 150 | 18,958 |
| 1970s | 23,253 | 254 | 23,507 |
| 1980s | 31,090 | 482 | 31,572 |
| 1990s | 28,246 | 399 | 28,645 |
| 2000s | 21,082 | 241 | 21,323 |
| 2010s | 31,162 | 472 | 31,634 |
| 2020s | 22,281 | 559 | 22,840 |
Geography
Where Wesleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Wesley, while Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 4,648 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wesley
The name Wesley is an English given name derived from the Old English words "west" and "leah," meaning "west meadow" or "western clearing." It originated as a surname in the 7th century, referring to someone who lived in a western meadow or clearing.
In the 9th century, the name was recorded as "Westlæh" in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, one of the earliest historical records of England. During the Middle Ages, the spelling evolved to "Westle" and "Westley" before settling on the modern form "Wesley."
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Wesley was Wesley of Dorchester, an English clergyman born around 1590. He served as the vicar of Dorchester, Dorset, and was known for his religious writings.
John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of Methodism, is arguably the most famous person with the name Wesley. Born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, he played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation and the evangelical revival movement.
Charles Wesley (1707-1788), the younger brother of John Wesley, was also a prominent figure in the Methodist movement. He is renowned for writing over 6,500 hymns, including popular ones like "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Christ the Lord is Risen Today."
Wesley Clair Mitchell (1874-1948) was an American economist and a leading figure in the development of empirical macroeconomics. He served as the president of the American Economic Association and made significant contributions to the study of business cycles.
Wesley Snipes (born in 1962) is an American actor best known for his roles in films such as "New Jack City," "White Men Can't Jump," and the "Blade" trilogy. He has received several awards and nominations for his acting career.
Wesley Autrey (born in 1957) is an American hero who gained national attention in 2007 when he saved a man who had fallen onto the subway tracks in New York City. His brave actions earned him numerous honors, including the prestigious Citizens Medal from President George W. Bush.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Wesley
People
Wesley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wesley 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
Wesley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wesley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 194,485 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wesley 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 1,762 US residents.
Is Wesley a common name?
We classify Wesley as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 245,260 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wesley most popular?
The single biggest year for Wesley was 2024, when 5,231 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wesley is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wesley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 155,432 people with the name Wesley, or 51.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #362 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 Wesley 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 Wesley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wesley leans strongly male. 153,717 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 1,717 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Wesley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wesley is White at 78.4%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Wesley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wesley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.4% (121,863 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 Wesley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wesley a male name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Wesley 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 Wesley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wesley 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 Wesley 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 common is the name Wesley?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Wesley at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.