Wylee
Of uncertain origin, possibly derived from "wili" meaning "trickster" or "wile."
Name Census estimates that about 591 living Americans carry the first name Wylee. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 72.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Wylee today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wylee births was 2016 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wylee. 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
591
~ 1 in 579,957 Americans
Peak year
2016
43 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,967
Tracked since 1979
Census
Wylee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 444 people with the first name Wylee, which placed it at #22,416 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
#22,416
National first-name rank
People counted
444
444 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wylee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wylee is White at 82.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Wylee 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 Wylee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.9% · 368
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 22
- Two or more races4.7% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.1% · 18
- Black or African American2.7% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Wylee
Wylee is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 597 total registrations, 434 (72.7%) were male and 163 (27.3%) were female.
Wylee as a male name
- Ranked #3,967 in 2024
- 28 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (28 births)
Wylee as a female name
- Ranked #7,907 in 2024
- 14 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Wylee on both sides of the split. Of the 443 people counted with this name, 296 were male (66.8%) and 147 were female (33.2%).
Popularity
Wylee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wylee from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 267 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Wylee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wylee 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 Wylee 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 Wylee
The given name Wylee is believed to have originated from the Old English language, dating back to the early medieval period around the 5th to 11th centuries. It is thought to be derived from the Old English words "wil" meaning "will" or "desire" and "leah" meaning a meadow or clearing in a forest.
The earliest known recorded instance of the name Wylee can be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, a manuscript record of a vast survey of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. In this text, the name appears as "Willeah," which is considered a precursor to the modern spelling of Wylee.
One of the earliest notable historical figures to bear this name was Wylee of Wiltshire, a wealthy landowner and nobleman who lived in the 12th century. He was known for his involvement in the construction of several churches and monasteries in the region.
Another prominent individual with this name was Sir Wylee Fitzherbert, a 14th-century English knight and military commander who fought in the Hundred Years' War against France. He was renowned for his bravery and leadership on the battlefield.
In the 16th century, Wylee Wycliffe, an English scholar and theologian, played a significant role in the translation of the Bible into the English vernacular. His work paved the way for the eventual creation of the King James Bible.
During the 17th century, Wylee Prynne was a notable English pamphleteer and author who challenged the authority of the monarchy and the Church of England. His outspoken views led to his imprisonment and the infamous mutilation of having his ears cropped.
Lastly, Wylee Thornton was a British explorer and adventurer in the 19th century who is credited with being one of the first European explorers to document the interior regions of Australia. His detailed accounts and maps of the continent were instrumental in the early colonization efforts.
Throughout its long history, the name Wylee has maintained a sense of strength, resilience, and determination, reflecting its roots in the Old English language and the character of those who bore this name.
People
Wylee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wylee 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
Wylee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wylee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 591 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wylee 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 579,957 US residents.
Is Wylee a common name?
We classify Wylee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 597 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wylee most popular?
The single biggest year for Wylee was 2016, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wylee is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wylee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 444 people with the name Wylee, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,416 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 Wylee 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 Wylee?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Wylee on both sides of the split. Of the 443 people counted with this name, 296 were male (66.8%) and 147 were female (33.2%). 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 Wylee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wylee is White at 82.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Wylee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wylee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.9% (368 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 Wylee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wylee a male name?
Yes, 72.7% of people registered as Wylee 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 Wylee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wylee 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 Wylee 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 named Wylee?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.