How rare is the name Wally?

3,807 people in the United States have the first name Wally, about 1 in 79,336. It ranks #4,767 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

WALLY

#4,767

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
3,807
About
1 in 79,336
This common or more
84.5%
Who bears it

Of the 3,807 people named Wally, 62.6% reported their origin as White, 17% as Hispanic or Latino and 9% as Black. 93.7% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Wally peaked in 1959, when 185 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19102025
Peak year
1959
Births that year
185
In 2025*
16 ▼91%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 5,101 babies have been given the name since 1910. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Wally by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #1,416. The largest share of babies named Wally, 40.3%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1910s#3,474132
1920s#2,570318
1930s#1,581643
1940s#1,416978
1950s#1,722954
1960s#1,7551,054
1970s#3,549373
1980s#5,982219
1990s#11,444121
2000s#16,096102
2010s#14,769122
2020s#12,95185
Greatest Generation 1901–277.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4525.6%
Baby boom 1946–6440.3%
Generation X 1965–8014.8%
Millennials 1981–965.6%
Generation Z 1997–123.2%
2013 and later3.4%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Wally is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Wally has been most common in Illinois (2.8×), Washington (2.7×), and California (2.6×), and least common in Ohio (0.87×).

1,673 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Wally

#4,764 Praveen · 3,809#4,764 Swati · 3,809#4,768 Aurea · 3,803#4,768 Katharina · 3,803

Spelled almost the same

2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Wally, most common first.

#45,674 Walley · 148#52,133 Walla · 109

Also a last name

As a last name, Wally ranks #40,270 of 156,621, with 587 people. See Wally as a last name

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