James Wilson
There are approximately 8,542 people named James Wilson living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 40,126 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name James with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Wilson. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
8,542
1 in 40,126
Named James
3.1M
Alive today
Named Wilson
932K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 3.1M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 57
Estimated bearers: 932K
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #14
Per 100K: 271.84
Top ancestry: White (67.4%)
First name trend
James: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name James. The peak year was 1947 with 95,020 births. The average person named James today is 57 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Wilson surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Wilson, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 67.4%.
- White67.4%
- Black or African American26.0%
- Hispanic or Latino2.6%
- Two or more races2.4%
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name James has a living-bearer frequency of 0.9168% of the US population, based on 3,142,267 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Wilson appears at a rate of 271.84 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.2718%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 8,542 people with the full name James Wilson. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named James
Related
Other people with the surname Wilson
FAQ
James Wilson: questions and answers
How many people are named James Wilson?
We estimate approximately 8,542 people in the United States share the full name James Wilson. That works out to about 1 in 40,126 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.9168%) with the surname frequency (271.84 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name James Wilson?
We classify James Wilson as "Rare". About 1 in 40,126 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is James a male or female name?
James is predominantly male. Out of 5,262,396 total SSA registrations, 99.5% were male and 0.5% were female. See the full James profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.