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The first name 
Wesley

Wesley is a first name typically given to boys, but in rare cases also used as a girls name.

Wesley – known and loved in the US!

The name Wesley isn’t among the current fashionable names in our top 10 stats, but nonetheless, it’s still very popular and common. In our SmartGenius ranking of all boys names, Wesley ranks 109. Recently, out of every 10,000 newborn boys, approximately 20 were named Wesley. In the entire USA, approximately 226,332 people – children, adults and seniors – currently bear the name Wesley. That is 0.07 % of all living Americans.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
Wesley

What does the name 
Wesley mean?

Wesley is originally a surname that comes from the place name Westley which means ‘west meadow’ or ‘west clearing.’ It is composed of two Old English words ‘west’ and ‘leah’ meaning ‘meadow’ or ‘clearing’. The name is often associated with the idea of faith, personal belief, and religious devotion.

Wesley became a first name... in honor of John Wesley (1703-1791), an Anglican clergyman and a theologian who is considered the founder of Methodism.

Talented people from all fields are called Wesley.

A Movie Star

Wesley Snipes (*1962)
The American actor Wesley Trent Snipes is widely known for portraying the vampire hunter Blade in the eponymous film trilogy (19982004). He made his acting debut alongside Goldie Hawn in the sports comedy film "Wildcats" (1986), and has since appeared in numerous films and television shows such as "Passenger 57" (1992) or "The Player" (2015). Snipes was nominated for several awards and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the film "One Night Stand" (1997) in 1997.

A Mid-Century Actor

Wesley Lau (1921 - 1984)
Wesley Lau was an American film and television actor who primarly starred in American TV series in the 1950s and '60s. He was probably best known for portraying Lt. Andy Anderson in the series 'Perry Mason' (1961

An NBA Player

Wesley Matthews (*1986)
The professional basketball player Wesley Matthews started his NBA career in 2009 with the Utah Jazz after he had been playing college basketball at Marquette University for four years. Since his NBA debut he was shooting guard for several teams such as the Portland Trail Blazers, the Dallas Mavericks, the Indiana Pacers, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Los Angeles Lakers.

An Editor-in-Chief

Wesley Pruden (1935-2019)
The American journalist and newspaper editor Wesley Pruden was the editor-in-chief of 'The Washington Times' from 1992 to 2008. He continued writing for the newspaper as an editor emeritus until his death in 2019. Pruden had a long and distinguished career in journalism, starting as a tenth grade student at Little Rock Central High School in 1951. He was known for his conservative political views and his sharp wit, and was a prolific writer, covering topics such as politics, culture, and international affairs.

Go on a journey to places 
with your name

When you hear the name Wesley, you might first think of people. But did you know that there are also places with the name Wesley? Are you also called Wesley? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...

So many churches...

bear the name Wesley: for example Wesley Chapel in Tampa, Florida, Wesley's Chapel in London, England, or the historic Wesley A.M.E. Zion Church in Philadelphia.

At Least Ten

At least ten places in the eastern States are called Wesley. You can find them in Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Oklahoma, Indiana and West Virginia.

Educational and Theological institutions

Several educational and theological institutions in the U.S. are called Wesley: in Washington, DC, for example, there is Wesley Theological Seminary.

Wesley -
always with us since 1880

Appearing throughout the time in the United States, the name Wesley is a staple in the country: Boys have been given the name Wesley for more than 140 years, according to official U.S. naming statistics. Wesley is therefore one of only 442 boys’ names that have been given every year since 1880. Even beyond that, Wesley is a very special name, which reached its peak of popularity only in the last quarter of the 20th century, ranking in the top 100 boys' names in our SmartGenius statistics: With position 67 Wesley has never been more popular than back in 1977.

In years where the graph has no value, the name Wesley was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.

4,773 newborn babies with the name Wesley in 2022

As many as 4,773 babies were named Wesley in the USA in 2022, ranking it #69 on the list of the most popular boys' names for that year. However, it experienced its lowest point of popularity in 2008, when it was only ranked at #189 of all male names in our SmartGenius statistics – back then only 2,082 boys were named Wesley.

Wesley -
at home all over the USA, especially popular in Oklahoma

Wherever you go, wherever you live – there’s a good chance to meet Wesley. Because: There are men and boys named Wesley in every state in the USA. This may sound quite unspectacular at first, but in fact, of the nearly 50,000 different male first names that occur in the USA, just 386 are recorded in each individual state, so the name Wesley is definitely something very special. In some regions it even makes it into the top 100 of the most popular male first names, for example in Tennessee, where Wesley ranks on position 100. The greatest chance of meeting Wesley, however, is in Oklahoma, where one in 431 boys and men bears this beautiful name – that is far above average – in the entire USA it is only one in 739 men and boys and in Rhode Island, where the name is least represented in relation to the population, you even have to ask an average of 2,120 men and boys for their name before you once get Wesley as an answer.

Wesley has 6 letters 
and begins with a W

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter W is quite rare as an initial letter for boys' names: only 1.5% of all common boys' names in the US begin with a W, which means that this initial occurs only about half as often as the other letters on average. Nevertheless, W is by no means the rarest initial. While J, A and D are the most common first letters of boys' names, X, U and Q are the least common initials of feminine first names.

With six letters, the name Wesley is of average length. In fact, 28% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly six letters. 24% of all first names are shorter, while 48% have seven letters or more. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

That means that since 1.5% of all boys’ names begin with a W, this initial occurs less than half as often as the other letters on average. By the way, of the comparatively few boys' names that begin with a W, William is currently the most common.

Other names with 
W, e, s, l, e and y

If you take all the letters in the name Wesley – W, e, s, l, e and y – and put them together again, you can form other names, such as Wesely or Welsey.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say Wesley

If your name is Wesley and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name Wesley

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Wesley, you can simply say:

Windmill

Elephant

Sun

Lion

Elephant

Yoyo

This is how the name Wesley is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write Wesley in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

Wesley

Wesley

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is Wesley

Just use American Sign Language!

The name Wesley is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

W
E
S
L
E
Y

Have you ever waved the name Wesley

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

W
E
S
L
E
Y

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Wesley sounds like this: