Waverly
A feminine name of English origin meaning "quavering meadow" or "undulating field".
Name Census estimates that about 5,105 living Americans carry the first name Waverly. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Waverly today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Waverly births was 2021 (387 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Waverly. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Waverly with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Waverly started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
5.1K
~ 1 in 67,141 Americans
Peak year
2021
387 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#916
Tracked since 1881
Census
Waverly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,313 people with the first name Waverly, which placed it at #5,243 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,243
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,313 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Waverly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Waverly is White at 62.9%. The next largest groups are Black (20.3%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Waverly described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Waverly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.9% · 2,083
- Black or African American20.3% · 674
- Two or more races7.5% · 250
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 151
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 130
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 25
Gender
Gender distribution for Waverly
Waverly is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 6,296 total registrations, 1,982 (31.5%) were male and 4,314 (68.5%) were female.
Waverly as a male name
- Ranked #14,106 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1951 (46 births)
Waverly as a female name
- Ranked #916 in 2024
- 289 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (384 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Waverly on both sides of the split. Of the 3,306 people counted with this name, 804 were male (24.3%) and 2,502 were female (75.7%).
Popularity
Waverly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Waverly from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,741 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
Waverly 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 Waverly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Waverlys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. Virginia, California, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Waverly, while South Dakota, Nebraska, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 94 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Waverly
The name Waverly is a habitational surname that originated in England, derived from the placename Waverley, which means "meadow haunted by quails" or "quail field." The name is a combination of the Old English words "waefre," meaning "quavering" or "wandering," and "leah," meaning "woodland clearing" or "meadow."
One of the earliest known references to the name Waverly can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded the landholdings of Waverley Abbey in Surrey, England. The abbey, founded in 1128, played a significant role in the early dissemination of the name.
Sir Walter Scott's novel "Waverley," published in 1814, is believed to have contributed to the popularization of the name. The novel's protagonist, Edward Waverley, was a young English officer who became involved in the Jacobite uprising of 1745.
The name gained further prominence in the United States due to its association with the town of Waverley, Massachusetts, established in the early 19th century. Waverley Mills, a textile manufacturing company founded in the town, also helped to spread the name.
Notable historical figures with the first name Waverly include:
1. Waverly Root (1903-1982), an American journalist and author known for his works on language and etymology.
2. Waverly Jones (1942-2005), an American actor and singer best known for his role as Woodrow "Woody" Anderson on the sitcom "227."
3. Waverly Bryson (1888-1959), an American singer and vaudeville performer who was a member of the Bryson Quartet.
4. Waverly Williams (1923-2016), an American gospel singer and songwriter, known for her work with the Dixie Hummingbirds.
5. Waverly Aurich (1923-2000), an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Waverly Company, a manufacturer of home furnishings.
The name Waverly has a rich historical background, with roots in Old English and connections to various literary, religious, and cultural aspects throughout its journey. While its popularity has fluctuated over time, it continues to be a distinctive and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with historical significance.
People
Waverly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Waverly 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
Waverly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Waverly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,105 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Waverly 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 67,141 US residents.
Is Waverly a common name?
We classify Waverly as "Rare". It ranks above 96.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,296 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Waverly most popular?
The single biggest year for Waverly was 2021, when 387 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Waverly is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Waverly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,313 people with the name Waverly, or 1.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,243 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Waverly in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Waverly?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Waverly on both sides of the split. Of the 3,306 people counted with this name, 804 were male (24.3%) and 2,502 were female (75.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Waverly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Waverly is White at 62.9%. The next largest groups are Black (20.3%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Waverly most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Waverly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.9% (2,083 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Waverly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Waverly a female name?
Yes, 68.5% of people registered as Waverly 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 Waverly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Waverly 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 Waverly 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.
How many people are named Waverly?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.