Wellington
Masculine · “settlement of Weola's people”
Wellington is an English place name that has become a duke, a boot, a beef dish and a national capital — few names have been quite so productive.
How old is the name Wellington?
Wellington was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Wellington alive today was born around 1946, making them about 79 years old. About 1,500 people named Wellington are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Wellington most popular?
Wellington peaked in 1891, reaching #476 nationally. Today it ranks #4249, 3,773 places below that high. See the whole 1891 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Weola ingas tun to Wellington
The story of Wellington
Wellington in Somerset gave its name to the title granted to Arthur Wellesley after his Peninsular campaigns; he then gave his name to a waterproof boot he had modified, to a beef dish of uncertain connection, to the capital of New Zealand and to a bomber. Its use as an American given name appears in nineteenth-century records and is small but steady.
Meaningscholars disagree
settlement of Weola's people
From an Old English personal name with the connective -ing, the people of, and tun, a farmstead; the first element is read variously and is not settled. The -ington pattern is one of the oldest English place-name formulas.
How the name formed
- Weola ingas tun
- Wellington
Related forms: Wellington · Wellington
Pronouncing Wellington
WEL-ing-tun
Three syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Wellington
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 191758 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #476reached in 1891
- Change vs 2022
- −22.6%24 in 2025, from 31
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.
Wellington in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Wellington in English — same name
- Wellington in Portuguese — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Michigan, Georgia, Ohio.
Wellingtons among us
people named Wellington are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 71,170 born in 2025 was named Wellington
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Wellington 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
Wellington beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Wellington in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled place-name meaning built on one of the oldest English formulas.
- An extraordinarily productive name with many afterlives.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Ten letters and three syllables is a great deal for early handwriting.
- In Britain a welly is a rubber boot, which is the first association there.
- It reads as a surname or a title to people meeting it in front of another name.
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What they receive
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Wellington
Masculine · #4249 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Wellingtons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Wellington are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Wellington in 2025?
- Wellington ranks #4249 among US boy names in 2025, with 24 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Wellington?
- About 1 in every 71,170 US boys born in 2025 was named Wellington — 24 in all.
- Will my child share the name Wellington with classmates?
- Wellington will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Wellington
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Guadalupe#4249 · Denny#4249 · Hughes#4249 · Erling#4249 · Rodrick#4249 · Elric#4249 · Ron#4249 · Wright#4249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Wellington? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Wellington and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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