Wyvetta
A feminine name derived from the Old English term "wyver" meaning serpent or dragon.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Wyvetta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wyvetta today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wyvetta births was 1920 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wyvetta. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Wyvetta is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wyvettas were born before 1964.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Wyvetta. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1920
7 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1967 SSA rank
#7,838
Tracked since 1920
Popularity
Wyvetta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wyvetta from the 1920s through to the 1960s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1930s peak, Wyvetta remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wyvetta 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 Wyvetta 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 Wyvetta
The name Wyvetta is of Old English origin, derived from the words "wyver" meaning "serpent" or "dragon," and "etta" meaning "little." It likely originated in the early medieval period, possibly as a nickname or descriptive name for a small, slender, or quick child.
Wyvetta is closely related to the name Vivienne, which shares a similar root in the Latin word "vivus," meaning "alive" or "lively." This connection suggests that Wyvetta may have been associated with qualities like vigor, energy, and liveliness.
While there are no known direct historical references to the name Wyvetta in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been in use among Anglo-Saxon communities in England during the 7th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wyvetta dates back to the late 12th century, when a woman named Wyvetta de Walesby was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire, England, in 1198.
Throughout history, a few notable individuals have borne the name Wyvetta, though it has remained relatively uncommon. These include:
1. Wyvetta Bullock (1826-1898), an American teacher and pioneer who established one of the first schools for African American children in Kansas.
2. Wyvetta Jones (1911-1992), an American blues singer and pianist active in the 1920s and 1930s.
3. Wyvetta Savage (1923-2008), an American actress and dancer who appeared in several Broadway productions and Hollywood films.
4. Wyvetta Watts (1926-2016), an American civil rights activist and educator who worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and played a key role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
5. Wyvetta Bullock (born 1952), an American politician who served as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs from 2001 to 2005.
While Wyvetta has remained an uncommon name throughout history, its unique blend of Old English elements and associations with liveliness and energy have contributed to its enduring appeal as a distinctive and intriguing given name.
People
Wyvetta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wyvetta 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
Wyvetta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wyvetta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wyvetta 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Wyvetta a common name?
We classify Wyvetta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wyvetta most popular?
The single biggest year for Wyvetta was 1920, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wyvetta is about 72 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 Wyvetta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wyvetta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wyvetta 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 Wyvetta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wyvetta 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 Wyvetta 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 many people are called Wyvetta?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.