Waldo
Waldo was given to 6 boys in 2025, #11,902 among boys’ names; 5,722 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,420 Americans named Waldo and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (25% of everyone recorded); the median is 59 years old and half are between 37 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Waldo by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Waldo mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Waldo is “a male given name from Old English, in modern American use transferred back from the surname.” Its etymology gives the senses “power” (weald) and “thief” (þēof) and “one who snatched victory from battle.” (in).
English surname, from the obsolete English given name Waltheof, from Old English weald (“power”) + þēof (“thief”), as in “one who snatched victory from battle.” Comparable to, or ultimately Anglicized from, the Old Norse equivalent Valthiófr, from vald + *ᚦᛖᚢᛒᚨᛉ (*þeubaʀ). Compare Walthall, Waldie.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Waldo?
#11,902 among boys’ names, 2025
Waldo fell from #9,504 in 2015 to #11,902 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 4.2 to 3.5 per million.
174 babies in 1915, the peak
Waldo peaked in 1915, when 174 boys were given it, #407 among boys’ names. The 6 births of 2025 are 3% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6 | #11,902 | under 0.01 |
| 2021 | 10 | #8,121 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 6 | #11,929 | under 0.01 |
| 2019 | 10 | #8,168 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 11 | #7,504 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 9 | #8,763 | under 0.01 |
| 2015 | 8 | #9,504 | under 0.01 |
| 2014 | 5 | #13,960 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 5 | #13,952 | under 0.01 |
| 2012 | 8 | #9,658 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (141)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 10 | #8,094 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 12 | #7,205 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 12 | #7,156 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 10 | #8,134 | under 0.01 |
| 2006 | 10 | #7,960 | under 0.01 |
| 2005 | 8 | #9,055 | under 0.01 |
| 2004 | 13 | #6,113 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 14 | #5,534 | 0.01 |
| 2002 | 10 | #7,008 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 12 | #5,986 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 12 | #5,890 | 0.01 |
| 1999 | 13 | #5,300 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 15 | #4,632 | 0.01 |
| 1997 | 17 | #4,044 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 13 | #4,858 | 0.01 |
| 1995 | 15 | #4,260 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 13 | #4,784 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 13 | #4,679 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 18 | #3,594 | 0.01 |
| 1991 | 19 | #3,313 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 19 | #3,298 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 29 | #2,347 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 26 | #2,356 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 16 | #3,190 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 15 | #3,258 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 18 | #2,821 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 16 | #2,948 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 24 | #2,203 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 16 | #2,967 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 13 | #3,405 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 15 | #3,090 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 19 | #2,566 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 14 | #3,065 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 18 | #2,550 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 17 | #2,591 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 10 | #3,650 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 19 | #2,271 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 13 | #2,851 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 15 | #2,530 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 19 | #2,199 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 10 | #3,272 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 24 | #1,723 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 23 | #1,691 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 17 | #1,968 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 20 | #1,754 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 26 | #1,554 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 31 | #1,432 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 43 | #1,193 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 25 | #1,622 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 38 | #1,299 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 31 | #1,459 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 29 | #1,498 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 25 | #1,589 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 30 | #1,453 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 42 | #1,189 | 0.02 |
| 1955 | 38 | #1,237 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 35 | #1,290 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 41 | #1,168 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 42 | #1,149 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 38 | #1,192 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 38 | #1,178 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 28 | #1,405 | 0.02 |
| 1948 | 41 | #1,124 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 47 | #1,062 | 0.03 |
| 1946 | 46 | #1,017 | 0.03 |
| 1945 | 38 | #1,054 | 0.03 |
| 1944 | 43 | #1,003 | 0.03 |
| 1943 | 58 | #884 | 0.04 |
| 1942 | 62 | #833 | 0.04 |
| 1941 | 51 | #896 | 0.04 |
| 1940 | 57 | #839 | 0.05 |
| 1939 | 66 | #743 | 0.06 |
| 1938 | 63 | #778 | 0.06 |
| 1937 | 63 | #779 | 0.06 |
| 1936 | 92 | #610 | 0.09 |
| 1935 | 70 | #738 | 0.07 |
| 1934 | 76 | #703 | 0.07 |
| 1933 | 85 | #631 | 0.09 |
| 1932 | 96 | #605 | 0.09 |
| 1931 | 95 | #610 | 0.09 |
| 1930 | 114 | #563 | 0.10 |
| 1929 | 116 | #549 | 0.11 |
| 1928 | 110 | #592 | 0.10 |
| 1927 | 124 | #557 | 0.11 |
| 1926 | 132 | #527 | 0.12 |
| 1925 | 121 | #565 | 0.11 |
| 1924 | 163 | #488 | 0.14 |
| 1923 | 139 | #517 | 0.13 |
| 1922 | 149 | #508 | 0.14 |
| 1921 | 153 | #499 | 0.14 |
| 1920 | 148 | #497 | 0.14 |
| 1919 | 124 | #537 | 0.13 |
| 1918 | 163 | #463 | 0.16 |
| 1917 | 164 | #442 | 0.18 |
| 1916 | 154 | #454 | 0.17 |
| 1915 | 174 | #407 | 0.21 |
| 1914 | 124 | #434 | 0.19 |
| 1913 | 116 | #400 | 0.23 |
| 1912 | 79 | #444 | 0.18 |
| 1911 | 44 | #445 | 0.19 |
| 1910 | 36 | #460 | 0.19 |
| 1909 | 17 | #676 | 0.10 |
| 1908 | 36 | #396 | 0.23 |
| 1907 | 27 | #455 | 0.18 |
| 1906 | 18 | #566 | 0.14 |
| 1905 | 24 | #462 | 0.18 |
| 1904 | 25 | #430 | 0.20 |
| 1903 | 22 | #448 | 0.18 |
| 1902 | 22 | #459 | 0.18 |
| 1901 | 15 | #534 | 0.14 |
| 1900 | 22 | #517 | 0.15 |
| 1899 | 24 | #383 | 0.23 |
| 1898 | 21 | #449 | 0.17 |
| 1897 | 22 | #409 | 0.20 |
| 1896 | 14 | #588 | 0.12 |
| 1895 | 20 | #455 | 0.17 |
| 1894 | 17 | #501 | 0.15 |
| 1893 | 19 | #433 | 0.17 |
| 1892 | 22 | #414 | 0.18 |
| 1891 | 15 | #474 | 0.15 |
| 1890 | 22 | #386 | 0.20 |
| 1889 | 18 | #445 | 0.16 |
| 1888 | 15 | #527 | 0.12 |
| 1887 | 14 | #486 | 0.14 |
| 1886 | 8 | #754 | 0.07 |
| 1885 | 17 | #460 | 0.16 |
| 1884 | 7 | #842 | 0.06 |
| 1883 | 6 | #882 | 0.06 |
| 1882 | 16 | #468 | 0.14 |
| 1881 | 23 | #347 | 0.23 |
| 1880 | 10 | #636 | 0.09 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Waldo a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Waldo has been given almost only to boys: 6 girls in 141 years of records.
Girls and boys named Waldo: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Waldo, and how old are they?
1,420 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 25% of the 5,722 Americans ever recorded as Waldo. The median Waldo alive today is 59 years old; half are between 37 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 2,608 people named Waldo (18 women and girls, 2,590 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,704 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.5 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 209 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 447 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 245 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 269 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 173 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 69 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Waldo born?
The states with the most babies named Waldo are Ohio, Texas and California, with 30% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | 232 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Texas | 173 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| California | 168 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Minnesota | 148 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Missouri | 121 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 115 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| New York | 109 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Iowa | 105 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 103 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Indiana | 83 | not ranked | 0.6× |
Where Waldo is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Waldo is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1910 it was given 1.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Waldo with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Waldo
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Waldo and names like it
- Compare Waldo and VernerBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sWaldo peaked in 1915.
- Ohio’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Waldo since 1910.
- Old English namesWiktionary’s origin for Waldo: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1915The year the most babies were named Waldo.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Waldo alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with WMost given first.