Wrangler
One who handles and controls horses or cattle.
Name Census estimates that about 318 living Americans carry the first name Wrangler. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wrangler today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wrangler births was 2024 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wrangler. 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
318
~ 1 in 1,077,844 Americans
Peak year
2024
30 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,771
Tracked since 1987
Census
Wrangler in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 209 people with the first name Wrangler, which placed it at #37,369 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
#37,369
National first-name rank
People counted
209
209 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wrangler
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wrangler is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Wrangler 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 Wrangler at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.6% · 181
- Two or more races5.7% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.8% · 8
Popularity
Wrangler: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wrangler 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 119 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
Wrangler 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 Wrangler during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wranglers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Wrangler
The name Wrangler is an occupational term that emerged in the late 18th century in the American West. It is derived from the English verb "to wrangle," which means to herd or manage livestock, particularly cattle or horses. The roots of this word can be traced back to the Old English "wranglian," meaning to wrestle or struggle.
The term "wrangler" initially referred to individuals skilled in the art of handling and training horses, especially those employed on ranches and farms. As the cattle industry flourished in the American West, the role of the wrangler expanded to encompass the management of cattle herds as well. These individuals were responsible for rounding up, moving, and overseeing the livestock, often enduring long hours and harsh conditions on the open range.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the term "wrangler" in this context can be found in the writings of Washington Irving, an American author and diplomat. In his book "A Tour on the Prairies" published in 1835, Irving described the role of a wrangler as someone who "has charge of the horses at night, and employs a corps of underlings to assist him."
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the name Wrangler became closely associated with the romanticized image of the American cowboy. Several notable individuals bore this name, including:
1. Wrangler Jim Courtright (1848-1887), a renowned gunfighter and lawman in the Old West.
2. Wrangler John Slaughter (1841-1923), a cattle rancher and lawman in Texas and Arizona.
3. Wrangler Tom Horn (1860-1903), a scout, interpreter, and hired gunman who worked for the Pinkerton Detective Agency.
4. Wrangler Charley Russell (1864-1926), a renowned cowboy artist and sculptor who captured the spirit of the American West.
5. Wrangler William "Buck" Taylor (1859-1924), a cowboy and actor who appeared in numerous Western films in the early 20th century.
While the term "wrangler" is no longer as commonly used as a given name today, it remains an indelible part of the cultural heritage and folklore of the American West, serving as a reminder of the rugged individuals who tamed the frontier and shaped the iconic image of the cowboy.
People
Wrangler + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wrangler 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
Wrangler: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wrangler?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 318 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wrangler 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 1,077,844 US residents.
Is Wrangler a common name?
We classify Wrangler as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 321 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wrangler most popular?
The single biggest year for Wrangler was 2024, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wrangler is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wrangler in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 209 people with the name Wrangler, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,369 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 Wrangler 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 Wrangler?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wrangler leans strongly male. 205 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 10 female bearers (4.7%). 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 Wrangler?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wrangler is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.7%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Wrangler most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wrangler in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (181 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 Wrangler in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wrangler a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wrangler 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 Wrangler still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wrangler 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 Wrangler 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 called Wrangler?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.