Head to head · Boys' names
Logan vs Wesley
#53 vs #52 in 2025 · Scottish Gaelic vs Old English roots
Wesley is a whisker ahead (#52 vs #53 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Wesley is climbing the charts fast, Logan is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Wesley leads 3 measures of 6; Logan leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Logan #368, Wesley #119 — Wesley higher
- 1890s: Logan #518, Wesley #121 — Wesley higher
- 1900s: Logan #688, Wesley #128 — Wesley higher
- 1910s: Logan #710, Wesley #136 — Wesley higher
- 1920s: Logan #809, Wesley #133 — Wesley higher
- 1930s: Logan #931, Wesley #145 — Wesley higher
- 1940s: Logan #937, Wesley #161 — Wesley higher
- 1950s: Logan #1019, Wesley #160 — Wesley higher
- 1960s: Logan #1024, Wesley #161 — Wesley higher
- 1970s: Logan #828, Wesley #130 — Wesley higher
- 1980s: Logan #221, Wesley #97 — Wesley higher
- 1990s: Logan #65, Wesley #129 — Logan higher
- 2000s: Logan #25, Wesley #185 — Logan higher
- 2010s: Logan #15, Wesley #130 — Logan higher
- 2020s: Logan #35, Wesley #72 — Logan higher
Wesley stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Logan has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Logan | Wesley |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #368 | #119 |
| 1890s | #518 | #121 |
| 1900s | #688 | #128 |
| 1910s | #710 | #136 |
| 1920s | #809 | #133 |
| 1930s | #931 | #145 |
| 1940s | #937 | #161 |
| 1950s | #1019 | #160 |
| 1960s | #1024 | #161 |
| 1970s | #828 | #130 |
| 1980s | #221 | #97 |
| 1990s | #65 | #129 |
| 2000s | #25 | #185 |
| 2010s | #15 | #130 |
| 2020s | #35 | #72 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Logan
- Canada#20
- Scotland#35
- England & Wales#76
Wesley
- Canada#40
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Logan
little hollow
From Scottish Gaelic lagan, a diminutive of lag, 'hollow' or 'low-lying place' — the source of the place name Logan in Ayrshire, from which the surname comes. An unrelated Irish surname, Ó Leocháin, was also anglicized as Logan.
lag / lagan (Scottish Gaelic, 'hollow') → Logan (place, Ayrshire) → Logan (Scottish surname) → Logan (given name)
How it traveled
The oldest Logan is a piece of ground: a hollow in Ayrshire in southwest Scotland, whose name gave the local family theirs. Scottish and Ulster-Scots families carried the surname across the Atlantic, where it stuck to the map as well as to people — Mount Logan in the Yukon, Boston's Logan airport, the town of Logan, Utah.
Wesley
West meadow, or west clearing
From the Old English elements west and lēah, a clearing or pasture — the same lēah that ends Ashley, Bradley and Shirley.
west + lēah (Old English) → Westley (English place name) → Wesley (English surname) → Wesley (given name)
How it traveled
The name comes from English places called Westley or Wesley, named for lying west of somewhere else. Families who moved away from those settlements carried the place name with them as a surname, which is how it was still working in the seventeenth century.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Logan
LOH-gan
Two syllables, stress on the first. The spelling gives the sound away, so it survives phone calls, roll calls and coffee cups without correction.
- Lo — The most common clipping, used among family and friends; works equally for a boy or a girl.
- Logie — Follows the Scottish -ie diminutive pattern; affectionate and household-level rather than public.
- Logs — A teammate-and-classmate nickname, informal and usually short-lived.
Wesley
WEZ-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. The s is usually voiced, so it sounds like a z; some speakers keep a soft s, and both pass without comment.
- Wes — By far the most common short form, used in every setting from the classroom to a byline, and also given on its own as a full name.
- Wez — An informal respelling of Wes, heard more in British and Australian speech than American.
- Les — Drawn from the second syllable rather than the first; uncommon, and mostly encountered among older bearers.
Who has carried each name
Logan
Logan Lerman (b. 1992) — Percy Jackson star
Wesley
Wesley Snipes (b. 1962) — Blade himself
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Logan if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsLogan is stepping back from its peak
- a name that charts abroad tooLogan is on the national lists of Canada, Scotland and England & Wales
- a name that feels very nowLogan is stepping back from its peak
Choose Wesley if you want…
- a name on the way upup 46 places on the charts in five years
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 57% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 84% for Logan
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Logan
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and known everywhere in the English-speaking world — little risk of lifelong correcting.
- Charts in Canada, Scotland and England & Wales as well as the US, so it travels without translation.
- Short and complete on its own; it needs no nickname, though Lo and Logie are there if wanted.
To consider
- It reads male to most people on paper. A girl named Logan will meet forms and rosters that assume otherwise — manageable, but worth knowing in advance.
- The name rose sharply and is now easing back, so it clusters heavily around people in their teens and twenties. It may sound of a particular moment rather than timeless for a while.
- Very little to shorten. If you like a long name with a private nickname inside it, Logan gives you almost nothing to work with.
Wesley
Strengths
- Comes with Wes ready-made — a one-syllable short form that has been in use as long as the name has, and stands on its own as a name too.
- Spelled the way it sounds for an American ear, and short enough to fit any form, jersey or signature.
- Used unchanged in Dutch, French and Brazilian Portuguese, so it needs no translation abroad.
To consider
- The Methodist connection is the reason the name exists as a first name, and some families will hear it clearly. Others will hear nothing at all — worth knowing which side yours is on.
- Westley and Wesly both exist, so expect the occasional wrong spelling and the occasional soft-s pronunciation.
- It has been climbing rather than sitting still, so a child named Wesley now may meet more namesakes over the years than the present picture suggests.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Logan
84%chance Logan feels dated by 2040
Logan is coming down from a big peak (#5 in 2017). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Wesley
57%chance Wesley feels dated by 2040
Wesley is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Logan and Wesley in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Logan and Wesley?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Logan and Wesley — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Logan or Wesley — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Logan or Wesley?
- Wesley, in 2025: Wesley ranked #52 with 5,578 babies; Logan ranked #53 with 5,576 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Logan or Wesley?
- Wesley. Over the last five years Logan moved down 37 places; Wesley moved up 46 places.
- Which is the older name, Logan or Wesley?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Logan and Wesley?
- About 380,000 people named Logan are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 194,000 people named Wesley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Logans or Wesleys in the classroom?
- Logan will almost certainly be the only one in school. Wesley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Logan, Wesley and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap