Wylie
A diminutive form of the Old English name "Wilhylm" meaning "resolute protection".
Name Census estimates that about 4,495 living Americans carry the first name Wylie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Wylie today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wylie births was 2024 (225 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wylie. 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
4.5K
~ 1 in 76,252 Americans
Peak year
2024
225 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,234
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Wylie
Wylie leans heavily male at 89.0% of total registrations, but 726 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Wylie as a male name
- Ranked #1,234 in 2024
- 162 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (162 births)
Wylie as a female name
- Ranked #2,737 in 2024
- 63 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (63 births)
Popularity
Wylie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wylie 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 1,126 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Wylie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wylie 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 Wylie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wylies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. Texas, South Carolina, California recorded the most babies named Wylie, while West Virginia, Virginia, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 71 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wylie
The name Wylie is a variant of the English surname Wiley, which derives from the Old English word "wil" meaning "wiliness" or "cunning." The name is believed to have originated in the late 11th century, around the time of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
Wylie was initially used as a descriptive surname, referring to someone who was perceived as clever, cunning, or shrewd. Over time, it transitioned into a given name, particularly in Scotland and Northern England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wylie can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landowners and estates commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Willelmus Wili," indicating its use as a surname at that time.
In the 12th century, a Scottish literary work known as "The Brus" by John Barbour mentions a character named "Wylie Laird of Lochy," suggesting the name's prevalence in Scotland during the Middle Ages.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Wylie. One of the earliest was Wylie Bressant (c. 1260 - unknown), a Scottish knight and landowner who was a supporter of Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
In the 16th century, Wylie Houstaun (c. 1510 - 1572) was a Scottish clergyman and reformer who played a significant role in the Scottish Reformation.
During the 18th century, Wylie Macfeyth (c. 1720 - 1790) was a Scottish Gaelic poet and bard known for his compositions celebrating the Jacobite cause.
In the 19th century, Wylie Grier (1833 - 1902) was an American Presbyterian minister and educator who served as the president of Biddle University (now Johnson C. Smith University) in North Carolina.
More recently, Wylie Dufresne (born 1970) is an American chef and restaurateur known for his innovative approach to molecular gastronomy and his contributions to the New York City culinary scene.
People
Wylie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wylie 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
Wylie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wylie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,495 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wylie 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 76,252 US residents.
Is Wylie a common name?
We classify Wylie as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,622 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wylie most popular?
The single biggest year for Wylie was 2024, when 225 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wylie is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Wylie a male name?
Yes, 89.0% of people registered as Wylie 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.
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.