How Many People Are Named Wilson?
An estimated 28,231 people in the United States have the first name Wilson. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 40 years old, and Wilson peaked in popularity in 1918 with 1,381 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Wilson 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 Wilson paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Wilson is overwhelmingly male, 210 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
28,231
About 1 in 12,141 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.6% confidence
Average Age
40
years old
Peak Year
1918
1,381 births
Total Registered
48,613
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Wilson
Wilson is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 48,613 total births registered, 99.6% were male.
Wilson as a male name
Ranked #644 in 2024
431 male births in 2024
Peak: 1918 (1,381 births)
Wilson as a female name
Ranked #15,131 in 2021
6 female births in 2021
Peak: 2001 (10 births)
Wilson: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Wilson span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1910s, when 6,859 babies were registered. Wilson has declined significantly from its peak in the 1910s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Wilson by Decade
How has Wilson 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 | 660 | 660 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 597 | 597 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 759 | 759 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 6,859 | 6,835 | 24 | |
| 1920s | 5,056 | 5,022 | 34 | |
| 1930s | 3,696 | 3,696 | 0 | |
| 1940s | 4,364 | 4,359 | 5 | |
| 1950s | 3,383 | 3,383 | 0 | |
| 1960s | 2,661 | 2,661 | 0 | |
| 1970s | 2,319 | 2,309 | 10 | |
| 1980s | 2,884 | 2,862 | 22 | |
| 1990s | 4,190 | 4,144 | 46 | |
| 2000s | 4,915 | 4,884 | 31 | |
| 2010s | 4,265 | 4,238 | 27 | |
| 2020s | 2,005 | 1,994 | 11 | |
Wilson by State
Birth registrations for Wilson span all 49 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, California, Texas. The lowest are in North Dakota, Vermont, Nevada. On average, about 851 Wilsons were registered per state.
Wilson + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilson as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Wilson
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
Wilson: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilson?
We estimate approximately 28,231 people named Wilson 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 12,141 Americans share this first name.
Is Wilson a common name?
Wilson is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 48,613 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Wilson most popular?
Wilson reached peak popularity in 1918, when 1,381 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Wilson is approximately 40 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Wilson a male name?
Wilson is predominantly male. 99.6% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Wilson Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Wilson Smith, Wilson Johnson, Wilson 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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