How rare is the name Wesley?

155,434 people in the United States have the first name Wesley, about 1 in 1,943. It ranks #362 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

WESLEY

#362

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
155,434
About
1 in 1,943
This common or more
52.4%
Who bears it

Of the 155,434 people named Wesley, 78.4% reported their origin as White, 8.6% as Black and 4.6% as Hispanic or Latino. 98.9% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Wesley peaked in 2025, when 5,679 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2025
Births that year
5,679
In 2025*
5,679
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 250,969 babies have been given the name since 1880. 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.

Wesley by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #113. The largest share of babies named Wesley, 20.9%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#2871,186
1890s#3501,370
1900s#3771,693
1910s#3237,687
1920s#30212,970
1930s#32011,055
1940s#34312,614
1950s#35118,207
1960s#34418,957
1970s#25623,506
1980s#19231,570
1990s#23828,645
2000s#34921,325
2010s#22131,639
2020s#11328,545
Before 19011.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–277.9%
Silent Generation 1928–458.2%
Baby boom 1946–6413.5%
Generation X 1965–8014.2%
Millennials 1981–9620%
Generation Z 1997–1214.3%
2013 and later20.9%

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 Wesley is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Wesley has been most common in Alaska (1.7×), Hawaii (1.7×), and Montana (1.7×), and least common in Rhode Island (0.41×).

242,684 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 Wesley

#360 Lily · 155,678#361 Randall · 155,628#363 Molly · 153,463#364 Sylvia · 152,900

Spelled almost the same

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

#9,286 Wesly · 1,507#12,130 Weslee · 1,036#30,089 Wessley · 291

Also a last name

As a last name, Wesley ranks #1,592 of 156,621, with 21,988 people. See Wesley as a last name

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