Wesley Snipes
There are approximately 5 people named Wesley Snipes living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 68,550,868 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Wesley with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Snipes. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
5
1 in 68,550,868
Named Wesley
194K
Alive today
Named Snipes
9.0K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 194K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 2024
Average age: 36
Top Census group: White (78.4%)
Estimated bearers: 9.0K
Rarity: Rare
Census rank: #4,381
Per 100K: 2.62
Top ancestry: White (61.0%)
First name trend
Wesley: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Wesley. The peak year was 2024 with 5,231 births. The average person named Wesley today is 36 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wesley
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Wesley, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 78.4%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Wesley described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Wesley at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White78.4% · 121,863
- Black or African American8.6% · 13,350
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 7,132
- Two or more races4.4% · 6,852
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 4,776
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1,459
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Snipes surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Snipes, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 61.0%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Snipes described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Snipes at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White61.0% · 4,776
- Black or African American32.1% · 2,511
- Two or more races3.6% · 279
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 201
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 30
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Wesley has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0567% of the US population, based on 194,485 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Wesley right now.
The surname Snipes appears at a rate of 2.62 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0026%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 5 people with the full name Wesley Snipes. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Wesley
FAQ
Wesley Snipes: questions and answers
How many people are named Wesley Snipes?
We estimate approximately 5 people in the United States share the full name Wesley Snipes. That works out to about 1 in 68,550,868 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0567%) with the surname frequency (2.62 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Wesley Snipes?
We classify Wesley Snipes as "Very Rare". About 1 in 68,550,868 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Wesley a male or female name?
Wesley is predominantly male. Out of 245,260 total SSA registrations, 98.7% were male and 1.3% were female. See the full Wesley 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 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people are called Wesley Snipes?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.