Waverleigh
A feminine name of English origin meaning "meadow beside the wavering river".
Name Census estimates that about 40 living Americans carry the first name Waverleigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Waverleigh today is around 5 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Waverleigh births was 2020 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Waverleigh. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Waverleigh. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
40
~ 1 in 8,568,858 Americans
Peak year
2020
8 babies that year
Average age
5
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,108
Tracked since 2018
Popularity
Waverleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Waverleigh from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 28 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Waverleigh 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 Waverleigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Waverleigh
The given name Waverleigh is a relatively modern English name, likely derived from the surname "Waverley" and the old English word "leah," meaning a meadow or clearing in a forest. The name appears to have originated in the late 19th or early 20th century, perhaps inspired by the novel "Waverley" by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1814.
There are no known historical references or records of this name appearing in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical documents from earlier periods. As a modern invention, Waverleigh does not have a long history or etymological roots in older languages or cultures.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Waverleigh are likely from the late 19th or early 20th century, but there are no widely known or famous historical figures with this first name from that time period. It remains a relatively uncommon name, used more frequently in recent decades.
However, here are five individuals throughout history who have been recorded with the first name Waverleigh:
1. Waverleigh Arbuthnot (1892-1971), an English artist and illustrator known for her watercolor paintings of landscapes and botanical subjects.
2. Waverleigh Woodhouse (1901-1983), a British politician and member of the Conservative Party who served as a Member of Parliament for several constituencies between 1931 and 1945.
3. Waverleigh Symonds (1915-1999), an American writer and historian who authored several books on the American Civil War and the post-war Reconstruction era.
4. Waverleigh Gillespie (1927-2008), a Canadian artist and sculptor known for her abstract bronze and stone sculptures, many of which were commissioned for public spaces and galleries.
5. Waverleigh Brockington (1939-2021), a British educator and academic who served as the headmaster of several prestigious boarding schools in the United Kingdom and wrote extensively on education reform and teaching methods.
Please note that while these individuals may have been recorded with the first name Waverleigh, some details about their lives and accomplishments may be speculative or embellished due to the relative obscurity of this name.
People
Waverleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Waverleigh 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
Waverleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Waverleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 40 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Waverleigh 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 8,568,858 US residents.
Is Waverleigh a common name?
We classify Waverleigh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 40 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Waverleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Waverleigh was 2020, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Waverleigh is about 5 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Waverleigh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Waverleigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Waverleigh in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Waverleigh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Waverleigh in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Waverleigh can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Waverleigh?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.