The story in the numbers

242,105 boys have been named Wesley in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2024, with 5,144 births — 0.30% of all boys recorded that year.

It has never been more used than now: its record year is 2024, within the last few years of data.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1984, and the 2010s alone account for 13%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 17 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 3,155 girls have also been given it, 1.3% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

By decade

Decade

boys named Wesley

1,186

1,365

1,693

7,603

12,861

10,937

12,465

18,073

18,808

23,253

31,090

28,246

21,082

31,162

22,281

In 2024, its biggest year

Wesley was the 58th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 2024 were Liam, Noah, Oliver, Theodore and James. See all of 2024.

Names that rose and fell with Wesley

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.