Wednesday
Feminine · “Woden's day”
Wednesday is Woden's day — the English kept a Germanic god in the middle of their week where the Romance languages put the planet Mercury.
How old is the name Wednesday?
Wednesday first appears in US birth records in 1965 — 60 years ago. The typical Wednesday is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,700 people named Wednesday are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Wednesday most popular?
Wednesday peaked in 2023, reaching #1446 nationally. Today it ranks #3903, 2,457 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Wodnesdaeg to Wednesday
The story of Wednesday
The English weekday names preserve four Germanic gods — Tiw, Woden, Thunor and Frige — because the Anglo-Saxons translated the Roman planetary week by substituting their own gods for the Roman ones. Woden stood in for Mercury. The name's modern use comes almost entirely from a cartoon family created in 1938, whose daughter was named for the rhyme about Wednesday's child being full of woe.
Meaning
Woden's day
From Old English Wodnesdaeg, the day of Woden, the god the Norse called Odin; the Romans named the day for Mercury, and the Germanic peoples substituted their nearest equivalent, which is why French has mercredi and English has this.
How the name formed
- Wodnesdaeg
- Wednesday
Related forms: Wodnesdaeg · Woensdag
Pronouncing Wednesday
WENZ-day
Two syllables, first stressed; the d in the middle is not said, which is why the spelling surprises people.
Nicknames for Wednesday
Moderate
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
- 1965
- Most girls named
- 2023154 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1446reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −50.7%37 in 2025, from 75
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.
Wednesday in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Wodnesdaeg in Old English — same name
- Woensdag in Dutch — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Wednesdays among us
people named Wednesday are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 43,440 born in 2025 was named Wednesday
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Lilibeth test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Wednesday's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lilibeth climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lilibeth's path sketches the road Wednesday is walking now.
Wednesday sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Wednesday is headed
Wednesday should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Wednesday beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Wednesday in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An ordinary English word, so nobody has to be taught to say it.
- A genuinely interesting piece of history sits inside the spelling.
- Entirely distinct in an American classroom.
- The fictional character is the first and overwhelming association.
- Nine letters with a silent d is a great deal for early handwriting.
- The rhyme about Wednesday's child being full of woe will be quoted at her.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Wednesday to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Wednesday
Feminine · #3903 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Wednesdays are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Wednesday are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Wednesday in 2025?
- Wednesday ranks #3903 among US girl names in 2025, with 37 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Wednesday?
- About 1 in every 43,440 US girls born in 2025 was named Wednesday — 37 in all.
- Will my child share the name Wednesday with classmates?
- Wednesday will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Wednesday
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kay#3903 · Sonja#3903 · Truth#3903 · Gisela#3903 · Kaylene#3903 · Bronwyn#3903 · Cristal#3903 · Georgianna#3903
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Wednesday? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Wednesday and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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