How Many People Are Named Wade?
An estimated 58,641 people in the United States have the first name Wade. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 44 years old, and Wade peaked in popularity in 1970 with 1,430 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Wade as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Wade paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Wade is overwhelmingly male, 168 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
58,641
About 1 in 5,845 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.8% confidence
Average Age
44
years old
Peak Year
1970
1,430 births
Total Registered
75,720
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Wade
Wade is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 75,720 total births registered, 99.8% were male.
Wade as a male name
Ranked #341 in 2024
1,009 male births in 2024
Peak: 1970 (1,423 births)
Wade as a female name
Ranked #17,514 in 2021
5 female births in 2021
Peak: 1962 (10 births)
Wade: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Wade span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 12,896 babies were registered. While Wade is less common than at its peak in the 1960s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Wade by Decade
How has Wade tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 523 | 523 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 530 | 530 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 557 | 557 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 2,336 | 2,331 | 5 | |
| 1920s | 3,567 | 3,538 | 29 | |
| 1930s | 3,096 | 3,096 | 0 | |
| 1940s | 4,293 | 4,293 | 0 | |
| 1950s | 8,545 | 8,534 | 11 | |
| 1960s | 12,896 | 12,865 | 31 | |
| 1970s | 10,485 | 10,428 | 57 | |
| 1980s | 6,996 | 6,973 | 23 | |
| 1990s | 5,987 | 5,987 | 0 | |
| 2000s | 4,501 | 4,494 | 7 | |
| 2010s | 6,503 | 6,503 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 4,905 | 4,900 | 5 | |
Wade by State
Birth registrations for Wade span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, North Carolina. The lowest are in Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware. On average, about 1,382 Wades were registered per state.
Wade + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Wade as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Wade
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
Wade: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wade?
We estimate approximately 58,641 people named Wade are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 5,845 Americans share this first name.
Is Wade a common name?
Wade is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.2% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 75,720 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Wade most popular?
Wade reached peak popularity in 1970, when 1,430 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Wade is approximately 44 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Wade a male name?
Wade is predominantly male. 99.8% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Wade Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Wade Smith, Wade Johnson, Wade Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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