Weaver
Masculine · “one who weaves”
Weaver is one of the old English trade surnames, and it has a second source hiding behind the first. Most Weavers descend from someone who worked a loom, but some take the name from the River Weaver in Cheshire, whose name comes from the same Old English verb, used for a stream that winds back and forth.
How old is the name Weaver?
Weaver was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Weaver alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Weaver are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Weaver most popular?
Weaver peaked in 1893, reaching #572 nationally. See the whole 1893 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Old English wefan, 'to weave' to Weaver
The story of Weaver
English kept three surnames for the loom: Webb, Webster and Weaver. Webster was built with the Old English ending -estre, which at first marked a woman doing the work, so a webster was originally a woman weaver, though by the Middle Ages men were websters too. Weaver was the plain word for the trade, and it became a surname across England. Its use as an American first name follows the surname.
Meaning
one who weaves
From Old English wefan, 'to weave'. A smaller group of Weaver families take the name from the River Weaver in Cheshire, whose name is built on the same verb in its sense of moving to and fro.
How the name formed
- Old English wefan, 'to weave'
- Middle English wevere
- Weaver, trade surname
- Weaver as a given name
Related forms: Weber · Wever · Webster
Pronouncing Weaver
WEE-ver
Said exactly like the word.
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 191420 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #572reached in 1893
- Change vs 2021
- 0.0%6 in 2024, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Weaver in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Weber in German — related form
- Wever in Dutch — related form
- Webster in English — related form
Weavers among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Weaver are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Weaver sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- An everyday English word, so no one needs it spelled.
- A real trade surname with cousins across Europe, Weber in German and Wever in Dutch.
- Names a craft rather than a single famous person, so it arrives without a namesake to live up to.
- It is a word first, and people will hear the ordinary meaning, and the weaverbird, before the name.
- Well-known surname bearers, the actress Sigourney Weaver among them, mean it will often be taken for a family name.
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Weaver
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Weavers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Weaver are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Weaver in 2025?
- Weaver is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Weaver with classmates?
- Weaver will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More W names
The most-given names starting with W, all years combined.
William#9 · Walter#251 · Willie#1315 · Wayne#652 · Wesley#52 · Wyatt#38 · Warren#240 · Wallace#960
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Weaver? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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