Wallis
A feminine name of Germanic origin meaning "foreigner" or "stranger".
Name Census estimates that about 605 living Americans carry the first name Wallis. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 52.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Wallis today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wallis births was 1937 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wallis. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Wallis started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
- • Wallis sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
605
~ 1 in 566,536 Americans
Peak year
1937
50 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1977 SSA rank
#5,822
Tracked since 1911
Gender
Gender distribution for Wallis
Wallis is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,190 total registrations, 625 (52.5%) were male and 565 (47.5%) were female.
Wallis as a male name
- Ranked #5,822 in 1977
- 6 male births in 1977
- Peak: 1940 (26 births)
Wallis as a female name
- Ranked #9,488 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1937 (33 births)
Popularity
Wallis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wallis from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 257 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wallis by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Wallis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wallis' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Wallis
The given name Wallis has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically Old English and Old High German. It is derived from the word "walh," which means "foreigner" or "stranger," referring to someone who spoke a Celtic or Romance language.
In its early usage, Wallis was primarily a surname, originating in the Anglo-Saxon period of English history. It was often given to people who came from areas inhabited by Celtic or Romance-speaking populations, such as Wales or Brittany.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wallis can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. This suggests that the name was already in use during the 11th century.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the given name Wallis. One of the most famous is Wallis Simpson (1896-1986), the American socialite for whom King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne in 1936, causing a constitutional crisis.
Another notable Wallis was Wallis Warfield Simpson (1895-1968), an American socialite and the Duchess of Windsor. Her marriage to King Edward VIII in 1937 caused a major scandal and led to his abdication from the British throne.
In the field of science, Wallis Samuel Sampson (1887-1949) was a British meteorologist and physicist who made significant contributions to the study of atmospheric turbulence and the development of radar during World War II.
Wallis Budge (1857-1934) was a renowned English Egyptologist, best known for his translations of ancient Egyptian texts and his work on the history and culture of ancient Egypt.
Wallis Warfield Simpson (1896-1986) was an American socialite who became the Duchess of Windsor after her marriage to the former King Edward VIII, which caused a constitutional crisis in the United Kingdom.
While the name Wallis has its roots in the Germanic languages and was initially used as a surname, it has since been adopted as a given name in various cultures and regions around the world, reflecting its rich historical heritage and cultural significance.
People
Wallis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wallis as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wallis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wallis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 605 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wallis going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 566,536 US residents.
Is Wallis a common name?
We classify Wallis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,190 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wallis most popular?
The single biggest year for Wallis was 1937, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wallis is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Wallis a male name?
Yes, 52.5% of people registered as Wallis in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.