Whittley
A modern surname transferred as a given name of uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 66 living Americans carry the first name Whittley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Whittley today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Whittley births was 1989 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Whittley. 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 Whittley. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
66
~ 1 in 5,193,248 Americans
Peak year
1989
16 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2015 SSA rank
#18,967
Tracked since 1988
Popularity
Whittley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Whittley from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 35 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Whittley 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 Whittley 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 Whittley
The name Whittley is believed to have its origins in Old English, stemming from the combination of the words "hwit" (meaning white) and "leah" (meaning woodland clearing or meadow). This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person residing in a clearing or meadow surrounded by white trees or perhaps having white hair.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Whittley can be traced back to the 11th century in England, where it appeared as a surname in various historical records and documents. However, its transition from a surname to a given name is not well documented, and the exact timeline of this transition remains uncertain.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Whittley was Sir Whittley Browne, a prominent English landowner and knight who lived during the late 13th century. He is mentioned in several chronicles and records from the time, particularly in relation to his role in the Welsh Wars under King Edward I.
Another notable figure was Whittley Smythe, a 16th-century English poet and playwright whose works, though not widely known today, were celebrated during the Elizabethan era. He is believed to have been born around 1550 and died in the early 1600s, though the exact dates are uncertain.
In the 17th century, Whittley Cromwell, a distant relative of Oliver Cromwell, gained recognition as a prominent Puritan minister and author. His sermons and religious writings were influential among the Puritan community of the time, and he is believed to have been born in the early 1600s and died around 1680.
Moving into the 18th century, Whittley Fairfax, an English explorer and naturalist, made significant contributions to the study of flora and fauna in the Americas. Born in 1710, he spent several years traveling and documenting his findings in the New World before returning to England, where he published his seminal work, "The Natural History of the Americas," in 1756. He died in 1775.
In more recent times, one of the most well-known individuals with the name Whittley was Whittley Pemberton, an English artist and sculptor who lived from 1885 to 1970. His works, which often featured abstract and modernist styles, gained widespread acclaim and can be found in various art galleries and museums around the world.
People
Whittley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Whittley 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
Whittley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Whittley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 66 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Whittley 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 5,193,248 US residents.
Is Whittley a common name?
We classify Whittley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 69 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Whittley most popular?
The single biggest year for Whittley was 1989, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Whittley is about 34 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 Whittley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Whittley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Whittley 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 Whittley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Whittley 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 Whittley 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 common is the name Whittley?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.