Weslyn
A unique variation of the name Wesley, of English origin meaning "from the western meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 682 living Americans carry the first name Weslyn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Weslyn today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Weslyn births was 2017 (80 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Weslyn. 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.
People living today
682
~ 1 in 502,572 Americans
Peak year
2017
80 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,099
Tracked since 1986
Census
Weslyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 561 people with the first name Weslyn, which placed it at #19,036 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
#19,036
National first-name rank
People counted
561
561 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Weslyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Weslyn is White at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and Hispanic (12.7%). 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 Weslyn 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 Weslyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.9% · 364
- Black or African American14.3% · 80
- Hispanic or Latino12.7% · 71
- Two or more races5.9% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Weslyn
Weslyn leans heavily female at 81.4% of total registrations, but 128 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Weslyn as a male name
- Ranked #6,783 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (18 births)
Weslyn as a female name
- Ranked #4,099 in 2024
- 36 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (67 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Weslyn on both sides of the split. Of the 556 people counted with this name, 149 were male (26.8%) and 407 were female (73.2%).
Popularity
Weslyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Weslyn from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 353 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
Weslyn 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 Weslyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Weslyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, California recorded the most babies named Weslyn, while Missouri, Louisiana, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Weslyn
The name Weslyn is believed to be a modern variation of the English name Wesley, which has its roots in the Old English word "west leah," meaning "west meadow" or "western clearing." This name originated in England and was initially used as a surname before becoming a popular given name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Wesley dates back to the 12th century, where it appeared in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name was Wesley de Wellesleye, a nobleman who lived in Somerset, England, in the 13th century.
During the Protestant Reformation, the name gained prominence due to its association with John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a renowned Anglican cleric, evangelist, and leader of the Methodist revival, which had a significant impact on Christianity in England and beyond.
Another notable figure with the name was Wesley Winans Stout (1809-1876), an American inventor and industrialist who is credited with developing the first successful coal-burning kitchen range. His innovations in heating and cooking appliances played a crucial role in the advancement of domestic technology in the 19th century.
In the world of literature, Wesley Silas Brown (1850-1920) was an American poet and educator known for his works that celebrated African American culture and heritage. His poetry collection, "Clover Blooms," published in 1887, was one of the earliest published works by an African American poet.
Wesley Clair Mitchell (1874-1948) was an American economist and a prominent figure in the development of the field of macroeconomics. He is considered one of the founders of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and made significant contributions to the study of business cycles.
The name Weslyn, although a more recent variation, draws its origin and meaning from the historical roots of the name Wesley, reflecting a connection to the western regions of England and the meadows or clearings found there.
People
Weslyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Weslyn 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
Weslyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Weslyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 682 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Weslyn 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 502,572 US residents.
Is Weslyn a common name?
We classify Weslyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 687 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Weslyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Weslyn was 2017, when 80 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Weslyn is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Weslyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 561 people with the name Weslyn, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,036 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 Weslyn 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 Weslyn?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Weslyn on both sides of the split. Of the 556 people counted with this name, 149 were male (26.8%) and 407 were female (73.2%). 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 Weslyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Weslyn is White at 64.9%. The next largest groups are Black (14.3%) and Hispanic (12.7%). 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 Weslyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Weslyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.9% (364 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 Weslyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Weslyn a female name?
Yes, 81.4% of people registered as Weslyn 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 Weslyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Weslyn 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 Weslyn 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 Weslyn?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.