West
An English word referring to the cardinal direction of the setting sun.
Name Census estimates that about 2,435 living Americans carry the first name West. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named West today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of West births was 2024 (151 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for West. 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 West with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 140,762 Americans
Peak year
2024
151 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,338
Tracked since 1880
Census
West in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,277 people with the first name West, which placed it at #6,884 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
#6,884
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,277 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for West
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named West is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Black (14.8%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 West 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 West at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.8% · 1,520
- Black or African American14.8% · 338
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 185
- Two or more races6.2% · 142
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 73
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 19
Gender
Gender distribution for West
Out of the 3,550 babies given the name West since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
West as a male name
- Ranked #1,338 in 2024
- 143 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (143 births)
West as a female name
- Ranked #12,042 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, West leans strongly male. 2,130 people counted with this name were male (93.6%), compared with 146 female bearers (6.4%).
Popularity
West: popularity over time
The SSA tracks West from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 738 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, West remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
West 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 West during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wests live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, Texas, Mississippi recorded the most babies named West, while Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of West
The name West is an English word derived from the cardinal direction of the same name. It is believed to have originated as a surname in medieval times, likely referring to someone who lived in the western part of a town or region.
As a given name, West has been in use since at least the late 16th century. One of the earliest recorded instances of West as a first name is from the baptismal records of St. Mary's Church in Beverley, Yorkshire, England, in 1582, where a boy named West Beane was christened.
West was not a particularly common first name in earlier centuries, but it did gain some popularity among English Puritans and Quakers, who often chose virtue names or words from nature for their children.
One notable historical figure with the first name West was West Digges (1720-1786), an English clergyman and scientist who made significant contributions to the study of astronomy and served as the rector of Bermondsey in London.
Another early bearer of the name was West Ford (1784-1849), an American pioneer and frontiersman who was among the first settlers in the region that would become the state of Indiana.
In the 19th century, West became a more popular first name, particularly in the United States. One famous American with this name was West Huddleston (1837-1924), a Union Army officer during the Civil War who later served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky.
Another notable American named West was West Churchman (1890-1968), a writer and journalist who worked for various newspapers and magazines, including The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly.
In the 20th century, one of the most well-known individuals with the first name West was West Bradenburgh Jr. (1922-1997), an American actor and singer who appeared in numerous films and television shows during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name West as their first name, reflecting its long-standing use as an English given name with potential roots in geographical and natural references.
People
West + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with West 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
West: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named West?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,435 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for West 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 140,762 US residents.
Is West a common name?
We classify West as "Rare". It ranks above 94.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,550 babies have been registered with this name.
When was West most popular?
The single biggest year for West was 2024, when 151 babies received the name. The fact that the average living West is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was West in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,277 people with the name West, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,884 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 West 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 West?
In the 2020 Census sex table, West leans strongly male. 2,130 people counted with this name were male (93.6%), compared with 146 female bearers (6.4%). 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 West?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named West is White at 66.8%. The next largest groups are Black (14.8%) and Hispanic (8.1%). 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 West most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named West in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.8% (1,520 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 West in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is West a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as West 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 West still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded West 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 West 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 Americans are named West?
See how many people have the name West on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.