Wessley
An English variant of the name Wesley, of English origin meaning "from the west meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 243 living Americans carry the first name Wessley. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wessley today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wessley births was 1978 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wessley. 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
243
~ 1 in 1,410,512 Americans
Peak year
1978
11 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,775
Tracked since 1926
Census
Wessley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 290 people with the first name Wessley, which placed it at #30,183 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
#30,183
National first-name rank
People counted
290
290 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wessley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wessley is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Black (6.2%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Wessley 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 Wessley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.1% · 238
- Black or African American6.2% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 15
- Two or more races4.1% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Wessley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wessley from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 70 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wessley 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 Wessley 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 Wessley
The name Wessley is believed to have originated from the Old English word "west-leah," which translates to "western clearing" or "western meadow." This name first appeared in Anglo-Saxon England during the 7th to 11th centuries, a period known for the spread of Christianity and the establishment of numerous monasteries and churches.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wessley can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and resources commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as a place name in various regions of England, suggesting its use as a surname or location identifier.
In the 12th century, Wessley gained prominence as a given name among the English nobility. One notable bearer of this name was Wessley de Warenne, born in 1166, who served as a trusted advisor to King John and played a crucial role in the negotiations that led to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215.
During the Renaissance period, the name Wessley was associated with several prominent scholars and writers. Wessley Ferrar, born in 1457, was a renowned English philosopher and theologian who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Greek texts.
In the 18th century, Wessley Pitts, born in 1711, was a British politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. He is credited with implementing several economic reforms and strengthening the country's relationship with its colonies.
Another notable figure bearing the name Wessley was Wessley Longfellow, born in 1807, an American poet and educator. His works, such as "Evangeline" and "The Song of Hiawatha," celebrated the natural beauty of the American landscape and explored themes of love, loss, and cultural identity.
Throughout history, the name Wessley has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including artists, musicians, and military leaders. While its popularity has fluctuated over time, it remains a name with a rich cultural heritage and historical significance.
People
Wessley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wessley 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
Wessley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wessley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 243 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wessley 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 1,410,512 US residents.
Is Wessley a common name?
We classify Wessley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 264 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wessley most popular?
The single biggest year for Wessley was 1978, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wessley is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wessley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 290 people with the name Wessley, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,183 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 Wessley 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 Wessley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wessley leans strongly male. 284 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 7 female bearers (2.4%). 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 Wessley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wessley is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Black (6.2%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Wessley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wessley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.1% (238 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 Wessley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wessley a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wessley 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.
Is Wessley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wessley 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 Wessley 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 share the name Wessley?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.