Boys' name · since 1926

Wessley

264 babies named Wessley in U.S. Social Security records since 1926, with the highest year being 1978. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

#11,361 of 45,481
all-time among boys
264
born since 1926
1980s
peak decade

Wessley is not among the current top-ranked boys names; 264 have been recorded since 1926.

Wessley has 264 recorded births among boys since 1926, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, though it falls outside today's most-used boys names, busiest in the 1980s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1926 to 2022.

  • #11,361 of 45,481 all-time among boys
  • 264 born since 1926
  • 1980s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Wessley ranks #11,361 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first). 264 born since 1926, peaking in the 1980s.

#11,361 of 45,481
all-time among boys
264
born since 1926
1980s
peak decade
Above the archive median
All-time archive position

Wessley's 264 recorded births place it above 75.02% of the 45,481 boys names in the full SSA archive.

National only
State-record footprint

No state rows cleared SSA’s public reporting threshold for this name.

Wessley's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Splitting Wessley's full recorded timeline at 1991, 49% of its total births fall in the more recent half of the record versus 51% in the earlier half -- a fairly even split across the full record. Its quietest year on record was 1926, with just 5 recorded births -- worth weighing against the 1978 peak of 11 to see the full range of the name's swing in popularity.

Wessley popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1926–2022

Last recorded 2022
Peak year (1978)
11
Annual births at peak, across 97 years of records
4681012 192619651981198719921997200320112022 7

Wessley by decade

1980s is the heaviest window (70 births, 27% of the file).

1980s was Wessley's strongest decade.

70 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 27% of all-time use.

Wessley births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 1980s at 70 births (27% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Wessley? ▼
264 babies have been named Wessley since 1926. All-time, it sits at #11,361 of 45,481 boys' names by recorded births. It was last recorded in 2022. The peak year was 1978 with 11 births.
Where does Wessley sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Wessley ranks #11,361 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first). All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the null SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Wessley most popular? ▼
Wessley was most popular in the 1980s decade with 70 total births. The single peak year was 1978.
How long has the name Wessley been used? ▼
Wessley has been recorded in Social Security data since 1926, spanning 97 years of data through 2022.
What names are similar to Wessley? ▼
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Wesley, Weston, Westley, Westin, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

What to do with Wessley's data

  • Wessley's decade-level peak was the 1980s (70 total births); usage has since declined to 7 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Wessley

Nearby Names Like Wessley

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Wessley

Wesley Boy
#52 247,713 births
Weston Boy
#55 75,907 births
Westley Boy
#619 10,119 births
Westin Boy
#689 7,414 births
Wes Boy
#715 6,786 births

Compare Wessley side by side: Wessley vs Wesley Wessley vs Weston Wessley vs Westley

Or pick any two names to compare →

Related Names

Names with a similar number of total births

Raliegh
264 births · Peak 1923
Irvan
264 births · Peak 1917
Milledge
264 births · Peak 1943
Ersel
264 births · Peak 1916
Ponciano
264 births · Peak 1925
Sherley
264 births · Peak 1936
Crescencio
264 births · Peak 1995
Lynnwood
264 births · Peak 1954

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Wessley: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1926–2022 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Wessley draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.