Wyat
A masculine name of English origin meaning "brave in war".
Name Census estimates that about 197 living Americans carry the first name Wyat. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wyat today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wyat births was 2001 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wyat. 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
197
~ 1 in 1,739,870 Americans
Peak year
2001
12 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2019 SSA rank
#8,847
Tracked since 1995
Census
Wyat in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 306 people with the first name Wyat, which placed it at #29,088 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
#29,088
National first-name rank
People counted
306
306 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wyat
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wyat is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Wyat 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 Wyat at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.6% · 265
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 22
- Two or more races3.6% · 11
- Black or African American2.0% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Popularity
Wyat: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wyat from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 92 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
Wyat 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 Wyat during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wyat
The name Wyat is an English given name derived from the Old English surname Wyatt, which originated as a nickname meaning "little guy" or "little one". It is a diminutive form of the name Wye or Wy, which itself is derived from the Old English word "wig" meaning "war" or "battle".
The earliest recorded use of the name Wyat dates back to the late 12th century in England. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Sir Henry Wyat, a 13th-century English knight who fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence. Another notable early bearer of the name was the English ambassador and poet Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), who is credited with introducing the sonnet form to English literature.
In the 16th century, the name Wyat gained prominence through the exploits of Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger (1521-1554), who led a rebellion against Queen Mary I of England. Although the rebellion was ultimately unsuccessful, Wyatt's actions were seen as a precursor to the Protestant Reformation in England.
During the 17th century, the name Wyat was borne by several influential figures, including Sir Francis Wyatt (1588-1644), the first English colonial governor of Virginia, and the English architect and sculptor Wyatt Papworth (1822-1894), who designed several notable buildings in London.
In the 20th century, the name Wyat gained further recognition through the works of the American writer Wyatt Emory Cooper (1899-1978), who wrote several novels and short stories. Additionally, the American actor and filmmaker Wyatt Knight (1955-1995) gained fame for his roles in several popular films, including the cult classic "Reservoir Dogs".
Other notable bearers of the name Wyat throughout history include the American baseball player Wyatt Toregas (born 1983), the American musician Wyatt Cenac (born 1976), and the British artist Wyatt Roy (born 1990).
People
Wyat + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wyat 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
Wyat: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wyat?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 197 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wyat 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 1,739,870 US residents.
Is Wyat a common name?
We classify Wyat as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 199 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wyat most popular?
The single biggest year for Wyat was 2001, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wyat is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wyat in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 306 people with the name Wyat, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,088 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 Wyat 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 Wyat?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wyat appears almost entirely male. Of the 312 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Wyat?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wyat is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Wyat most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wyat in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (265 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 Wyat in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wyat a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wyat 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 Wyat still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wyat 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 Wyat 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 are called Wyat?
You can see how many people have the name Wyat on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.