Wilson
Wilson was given to 405 boys in 2025, #673 among boys’ names; 49,017 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 27,000 Americans named Wilson and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (55% of everyone recorded); the median is 32 years old and half are between 17 and 56.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Wilson by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Wilson mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Wilson is “a male given name transferred from the surname.”
From Will (short form of William) + -son.
/ˈwɪlsən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Wilson?
#673 among boys’ names, 2025
Wilson fell from #621 in 2015 to #673 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 0.23 to 0.24 per 1,000.
1,381 babies in 1918, the peak
Wilson peaked in 1918, when 1,381 boys were given it, #122 among boys’ names. The 405 births of 2025 are 29% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 405 | #673 | 0.24 |
| 2024 | 432 | #645 | 0.25 |
| 2023 | 404 | #675 | 0.24 |
| 2022 | 387 | #689 | 0.22 |
| 2021 | 370 | #710 | 0.21 |
| 2020 | 402 | #656 | 0.23 |
| 2019 | 417 | #645 | 0.23 |
| 2018 | 433 | #619 | 0.24 |
| 2017 | 404 | #642 | 0.22 |
| 2016 | 439 | #615 | 0.23 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 433 | #621 | 0.23 |
| 2014 | 461 | #597 | 0.24 |
| 2013 | 391 | #631 | 0.21 |
| 2012 | 422 | #600 | 0.22 |
| 2011 | 409 | #603 | 0.22 |
| 2010 | 429 | #585 | 0.22 |
| 2009 | 488 | #541 | 0.25 |
| 2008 | 492 | #539 | 0.24 |
| 2007 | 473 | #543 | 0.23 |
| 2006 | 507 | #512 | 0.25 |
| 2005 | 516 | #484 | 0.26 |
| 2004 | 547 | #465 | 0.28 |
| 2003 | 468 | #515 | 0.24 |
| 2002 | 509 | #469 | 0.26 |
| 2001 | 463 | #497 | 0.24 |
| 2000 | 421 | #526 | 0.21 |
| 1999 | 405 | #524 | 0.21 |
| 1998 | 400 | #522 | 0.21 |
| 1997 | 380 | #527 | 0.20 |
| 1996 | 380 | #526 | 0.20 |
| 1995 | 410 | #504 | 0.22 |
| 1994 | 369 | #533 | 0.19 |
| 1993 | 434 | #485 | 0.22 |
| 1992 | 513 | #431 | 0.26 |
| 1991 | 436 | #473 | 0.22 |
| 1990 | 417 | #479 | 0.20 |
| 1989 | 323 | #539 | 0.16 |
| 1988 | 353 | #491 | 0.18 |
| 1987 | 294 | #525 | 0.16 |
| 1986 | 287 | #524 | 0.16 |
| 1985 | 276 | #526 | 0.15 |
| 1984 | 269 | #523 | 0.15 |
| 1983 | 248 | #529 | 0.14 |
| 1982 | 269 | #519 | 0.15 |
| 1981 | 259 | #525 | 0.14 |
| 1980 | 284 | #502 | 0.16 |
| 1979 | 242 | #551 | 0.14 |
| 1978 | 225 | #558 | 0.14 |
| 1977 | 213 | #575 | 0.13 |
| 1976 | 217 | #548 | 0.14 |
| 1975 | 217 | #548 | 0.14 |
| 1974 | 206 | #560 | 0.13 |
| 1973 | 202 | #559 | 0.13 |
| 1972 | 228 | #525 | 0.14 |
| 1971 | 270 | #489 | 0.15 |
| 1970 | 288 | #475 | 0.15 |
| 1969 | 240 | #501 | 0.13 |
| 1968 | 227 | #501 | 0.13 |
| 1967 | 254 | #474 | 0.15 |
| 1966 | 302 | #440 | 0.17 |
| 1965 | 250 | #489 | 0.13 |
| 1964 | 263 | #487 | 0.13 |
| 1963 | 282 | #473 | 0.14 |
| 1962 | 289 | #469 | 0.14 |
| 1961 | 272 | #484 | 0.13 |
| 1960 | 281 | #475 | 0.13 |
| 1959 | 313 | #453 | 0.15 |
| 1958 | 318 | #438 | 0.15 |
| 1957 | 355 | #412 | 0.16 |
| 1956 | 305 | #434 | 0.14 |
| 1955 | 337 | #395 | 0.16 |
| 1954 | 333 | #392 | 0.16 |
| 1953 | 359 | #361 | 0.18 |
| 1952 | 356 | #358 | 0.18 |
| 1951 | 355 | #364 | 0.19 |
| 1950 | 352 | #358 | 0.20 |
| 1949 | 377 | #346 | 0.21 |
| 1948 | 437 | #318 | 0.25 |
| 1947 | 439 | #326 | 0.24 |
| 1946 | 429 | #313 | 0.26 |
| 1945 | 398 | #300 | 0.30 |
| 1944 | 455 | #280 | 0.33 |
| 1943 | 461 | #285 | 0.32 |
| 1942 | 466 | #280 | 0.34 |
| 1941 | 450 | #267 | 0.37 |
| 1940 | 447 | #265 | 0.39 |
| 1939 | 401 | #274 | 0.36 |
| 1938 | 390 | #280 | 0.35 |
| 1937 | 352 | #289 | 0.33 |
| 1936 | 392 | #274 | 0.38 |
| 1935 | 341 | #296 | 0.33 |
| 1934 | 352 | #289 | 0.34 |
| 1933 | 349 | #282 | 0.35 |
| 1932 | 350 | #294 | 0.34 |
| 1931 | 339 | #303 | 0.33 |
| 1930 | 430 | #273 | 0.39 |
| 1929 | 400 | #277 | 0.37 |
| 1928 | 434 | #273 | 0.39 |
| 1927 | 460 | #266 | 0.41 |
| 1926 | 464 | #263 | 0.42 |
| 1925 | 445 | #272 | 0.40 |
| 1924 | 543 | #247 | 0.48 |
| 1923 | 532 | #244 | 0.49 |
| 1922 | 560 | #236 | 0.51 |
| 1921 | 601 | #221 | 0.55 |
| 1920 | 583 | #221 | 0.55 |
| 1919 | 853 | #155 | 0.87 |
| 1918 | 1,381 | #122 | 1.4 |
| 1917 | 921 | #144 | 1.0 |
| 1916 | 912 | #141 | 1.0 |
| 1915 | 767 | #154 | 0.90 |
| 1914 | 605 | #153 | 0.92 |
| 1913 | 659 | #122 | 1.3 |
| 1912 | 496 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1911 | 129 | #222 | 0.57 |
| 1910 | 112 | #223 | 0.58 |
| 1909 | 106 | #204 | 0.65 |
| 1908 | 79 | #237 | 0.51 |
| 1907 | 83 | #223 | 0.57 |
| 1906 | 68 | #236 | 0.51 |
| 1905 | 73 | #227 | 0.55 |
| 1904 | 78 | #208 | 0.61 |
| 1903 | 63 | #231 | 0.53 |
| 1902 | 69 | #216 | 0.56 |
| 1901 | 51 | #243 | 0.48 |
| 1900 | 89 | #208 | 0.59 |
| 1899 | 59 | #223 | 0.56 |
| 1898 | 60 | #229 | 0.49 |
| 1897 | 44 | #271 | 0.39 |
| 1896 | 73 | #208 | 0.61 |
| 1895 | 71 | #205 | 0.60 |
| 1894 | 43 | #270 | 0.37 |
| 1893 | 66 | #211 | 0.59 |
| 1892 | 56 | #238 | 0.46 |
| 1891 | 58 | #208 | 0.57 |
| 1890 | 67 | #200 | 0.60 |
| 1889 | 44 | #249 | 0.40 |
| 1888 | 62 | #225 | 0.51 |
| 1887 | 52 | #220 | 0.51 |
| 1886 | 71 | #191 | 0.64 |
| 1885 | 59 | #208 | 0.55 |
| 1884 | 78 | #180 | 0.68 |
| 1883 | 67 | #181 | 0.64 |
| 1882 | 82 | #165 | 0.72 |
| 1881 | 73 | #167 | 0.72 |
| 1880 | 72 | #179 | 0.65 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Wilson a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Wilson has been given almost only to boys: 210 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Wilson: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Wilson, and how old are they?
27,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 55% of the 49,017 Americans ever recorded as Wilson. The median Wilson alive today is 32 years old; half are between 17 and 56.
The 2020 Census counted 39,895 people named Wilson (406 women and girls, 39,489 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 26,783 born in the U.S. The Census count is 49% above 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 | 1,460 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,170 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,410 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 5,330 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 7,250 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 5,380 |
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 Wilson born?
The states with the most babies named Wilson are New York, California and Texas, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 4,344 | #796 | 1.1× |
| California | 3,178 | #665 | 0.8× |
| Texas | 2,852 | #841 | 0.8× |
| Louisiana | 2,585 | not ranked | 2.9× |
| North Carolina | 2,292 | #568 | 1.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 2,244 | #1,000 | 0.8× |
| Virginia | 2,040 | #494 | 1.8× |
| Georgia | 1,935 | #539 | 1.4× |
| Alabama | 1,923 | #481 | 1.9× |
| South Carolina | 1,844 | #499 | 2.3× |
Where Wilson is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Wilson is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 2.9 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 Wilson with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 49,385 babies since 1880, Wilson is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 405 of their 413 babies (98%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Wilson
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 Wilson and names like it
- Compare Wilson and WillsonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sWilson peaked in 1918.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Wilson since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Wilson: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1918The year the most babies were named Wilson.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Wilson alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with WMost given first.