Wiatt
A masculine name of English origin, a variant spelling of Wyatt.
Name Census estimates that about 104 living Americans carry the first name Wiatt. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wiatt today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wiatt births was 2010 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wiatt. 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
104
~ 1 in 3,295,715 Americans
Peak year
2010
17 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2015 SSA rank
#10,577
Tracked since 1995
Census
Wiatt in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 183 people with the first name Wiatt, which placed it at #40,598 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
#40,598
National first-name rank
People counted
183
183 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wiatt
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wiatt is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.6%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Wiatt 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 Wiatt at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.0% · 150
- Hispanic or Latino6.6% · 12
- Two or more races4.4% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 5
- Black or African American2.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 4
Popularity
Wiatt: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wiatt from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 49 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
Wiatt 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 Wiatt 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 Wiatt
The given name Wiatt is believed to have originated from an Old English word "wig," which means war or battle. It's a name that has been predominantly used in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States.
In the early medieval period, the name Wiatt or its variations, such as Wyatt, were often given to children born during times of conflict or war. This name was likely chosen to instill a sense of strength and courage in the child, reflecting the values of warrior culture prevalent at the time.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Wiatt can be traced back to the 11th century, during the Norman conquest of England. Sir Wiatt de Maudit, a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, is believed to be one of the earliest known bearers of this name.
Throughout history, the name Wiatt has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the most famous was Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), an English poet and diplomat during the reign of Henry VIII. His lyrical works, often romantic in nature, helped to shape the literary landscape of the Renaissance period.
Another prominent figure bearing the name was Wyatt Earp (1848-1929), an American Old West lawman and gunfighter who gained fame for his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. His legacy as a symbol of law and order in the American frontier has endured for generations.
In the realm of art and literature, Wiatt H. Travis (1809-1836) was a Texas lawyer and military officer who served as a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Revolution. He commanded the Texian forces at the Alamo and was among those killed during the famous siege in 1836.
More recently, Wyatt Russell (born 1986) is an American actor and former professional hockey player, best known for his roles in films such as "Overlord" and the television series "Falcon and the Winter Soldier." His name carries on the tradition of this historic moniker.
Throughout its long history, the name Wiatt has undergone various spellings and variations, including Wyatt, Wyett, and Wyet. However, its core meaning and associations with bravery, strength, and warrior spirit have remained consistent across generations and cultures.
People
Wiatt + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wiatt 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
Wiatt: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wiatt?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 104 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wiatt 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 3,295,715 US residents.
Is Wiatt a common name?
We classify Wiatt as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 105 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wiatt most popular?
The single biggest year for Wiatt was 2010, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wiatt is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wiatt in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 183 people with the name Wiatt, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,598 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 Wiatt 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 Wiatt?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wiatt appears almost entirely male. Of the 174 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Wiatt?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wiatt is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.6%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Wiatt most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wiatt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (150 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 Wiatt in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wiatt a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wiatt 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 Wiatt still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wiatt 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 Wiatt 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 have the name Wiatt?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Wiatt, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.