How Many People Are Named Wesley?
An estimated 194,485 people in the United States have the first name Wesley. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #279 overall. It is predominantly male (98.7%). The average bearer is 36 years old, and Wesley peaked in popularity in 2024 with 5,231 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Wesley 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 Wesley paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Wesley is overwhelmingly male, 3,155 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
194,485
About 1 in 1,762 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Male
98.7% confidence
Average Age
36
years old
Peak Year
2024
5,231 births
Total Registered
245,260
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Wesley
Wesley is predominantly male (98.7%), though 3,155 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Wesley as a male name
Ranked #58 in 2024
5,144 male births in 2024
Peak: 2024 (5,144 births)
Wesley as a female name
Ranked #2,187 in 2024
87 female births in 2024
Peak: 2021 (133 births)
Wesley: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Wesley span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 31,634 babies were registered. While Wesley is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Wesley by Decade
How has Wesley 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 | 1,186 | 1,186 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 1,370 | 1,365 | 5 | |
| 1900s | 1,693 | 1,693 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 7,687 | 7,603 | 84 | |
| 1920s | 12,970 | 12,861 | 109 | |
| 1930s | 11,055 | 10,937 | 118 | |
| 1940s | 12,614 | 12,465 | 149 | |
| 1950s | 18,206 | 18,073 | 133 | |
| 1960s | 18,958 | 18,808 | 150 | |
| 1970s | 23,507 | 23,253 | 254 | |
| 1980s | 31,572 | 31,090 | 482 | |
| 1990s | 28,645 | 28,246 | 399 | |
| 2000s | 21,323 | 21,082 | 241 | |
| 2010s | 31,634 | 31,162 | 472 | |
| 2020s | 22,840 | 22,281 | 559 | |
Wesley by State
Birth registrations for Wesley span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, Ohio. The lowest are in Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware. On average, about 4,648 Wesleys were registered per state.
Wesley + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Wesley as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Wesley
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
Wesley: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wesley?
We estimate approximately 194,485 people named Wesley 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 1,762 Americans share this first name.
Is Wesley a common name?
Wesley is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.7% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 245,260 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Wesley most popular?
Wesley reached peak popularity in 2024, when 5,231 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Wesley is approximately 36 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Wesley a male name?
Wesley is predominantly male. 98.7% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Wesley Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Wesley Smith, Wesley Johnson, Wesley 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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