How rare is the name Wiley?

7,351 people in the United States have the first name Wiley, about 1 in 41,087. It ranks #3,027 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

WILEY

#3,027

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
7,351
About
1 in 41,087
This common or more
81.5%
Who bears it

Of the 7,351 people named Wiley, 74.9% reported their origin as White, 16.4% as Black and 4% as two or more races. 96% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Wiley peaked in 1921, when 309 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1921
Births that year
309
In 2025*
188 ▼39%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 18,794 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.

Wiley by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #411. The largest share of babies named Wiley, 23.2%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#411726
1890s#590576
1900s#696590
1910s#7981,676
1920s#7702,647
1930s#7852,331
1940s#9302,196
1950s#1,2601,752
1960s#1,6771,147
1970s#2,391700
1980s#3,299528
1990s#4,026545
2000s#3,780836
2010s#2,9591,317
2020s#2,2101,227
Before 19017.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2723.2%
Silent Generation 1928–4522%
Baby boom 1946–6417.3%
Generation X 1965–806.9%
Millennials 1981–964.5%
Generation Z 1997–127%
2013 and later11.8%

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 Wiley is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Wiley has been most common in Mississippi (5.6×), Alabama (4.9×), and North Carolina (4.9×), and least common in New York (0.06×).

11,812 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 Wiley

#3,025 Faustino · 7,365#3,026 Rosaura · 7,362#3,028 Clair · 7,343#3,029 Carolann · 7,341

Spelled almost the same

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

#2,853 Willy · 8,097#36,086 Willey · 221#39,783 Wily · 189

Also a last name

As a last name, Wiley ranks #716 of 156,621, with 46,986 people. See Wiley as a last name

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