Wesley

Did you know?

A few things about Wesley you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Wesley

Wesley Sneijder

Dutch association football player (born 1984)

Choose Wesley and your child shares a first name with Wesley Sneijder, a Dutch association football player. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Wesley, like who?” Wesley Sneijder's Wikipedia article is available in 77 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Wesley Sneijder on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Nuță Lucian, CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 306 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Wesley, 5,578 babies in all. In a school of 500 kids, there'd probably be one other Wesley.
• 📜HistoryWesley has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Wesleys, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearWesley is at its all-time high right now: #52 in 2025.
• 📈Then vs nowWesley is 2.9× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 886 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 306.
• 🚀TrendWesley has climbed 46 places in the US rankings over the last five years and now sits at #52. Fast risers like this often keep climbing, so expect to hear it more.
• 📍Where it's lovedWesley is most popular in Maine, where it ranks #6, followed by Wyoming (#7) and New Hampshire (#9). It makes the top 1,000 in almost every state.
• 💬MeaningIn Old English, Wesley means “western meadow”.

About the name Wesley

Wesley is a boy name of English origin meaning “western meadow”. It has 6 letters and 2 syllables, starting with W and ending in “-ley”. US birth records list Wesley for boys from 1880 to 2025, in 146 of those 146 years. Its best year was 2025, when it ranked #52 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #52, with 5,578 babies.

Origin:English names