Westley
Masculine · “western meadow or clearing”
Westley is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 10,119 boys against 65 girls since 1880.
Westley began as a place before it was a person — an English spot on the map named for a meadow or clearing on the western side of something. The surname followed the place, and the given name followed the surname, picking up a long run of steady use in America along the way. Say it aloud and you get a small, plain word for a direction, then the soft -ley ending that Bradley, Ashley and Riley all share.
How old is the name Westley?
Westley first appears in US birth records in 1887 — 138 years ago. The typical Westley alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 8,900 people named Westley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Westley most popular?
Westley peaked in 1988, reaching #560 nationally. Today it ranks #619, 59 places below that high. See the whole 1988 chart.
Westley appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Old English west + lēah to Westley
The story of Westley
Westley and Wesley are the same English place name, recorded in more than one county and spelled more than one way before spelling settled down; the surname came from the place, as English surnames usually did. Wesley became a first name largely in honor of John Wesley, the eighteenth-century preacher whose Methodist movement crossed the Atlantic and took root hard in America, which is why the name has been on US records for well over a century. The Westley spelling carried on quietly beside it, and got a second life as the name of the hero of The Princess Bride — spelled with the t in both William Goldman's novel and the film made from it.
Meaning
western meadow or clearing
From Old English west plus lēah, a word covering woodland, a clearing in woodland, and the pasture left behind — hence both "west meadow" and "west wood" in different reference books, describing the same landscape.
How the name formed
- Old English west + lēah
- WestleyEnglish place name
- Westleysurname
- Wesleygiven name
- Westley
Related forms: Wesley · Wesley · Wesley
Pronouncing Westley
WEST-lee
Stress on the first syllable. In ordinary speech the t often disappears into the s-l cluster, so Westley and Wesley sound identical to most ears — the difference lives mainly on paper.
Nicknames for Westley
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
- 1887
- Most boys named
- 2025453 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #560reached in 1988
- Change vs 2022
- +23.4%453 in 2025, from 367
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.
Westley in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Wesley in English — spelling variant
- Wesley in Portuguese (Brazil) — same name
- Wesley in Dutch — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Washington.
Westleys among us
people named Westley are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 3,771 born in 2025 was named Westley
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 Layne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Westley's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Layne climbed just as high around 1959, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Layne's path sketches the road Westley is walking now.
Westley is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Westley is headed
Westley should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Westley beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Westley in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Wes is a ready-made short form with a long independent history, so the name comes with a casual version already built in.
- Everyone can pronounce it correctly on first sight, even readers who have never seen this spelling.
- On US records without interruption for well over a century, so it reads as neither invented nor dated.
- The Wesley form is widely used in Dutch and Brazilian Portuguese, which helps it travel.
- The t will be dropped constantly. Expect Wesley on forms, name tags and email addresses, and expect to spell it out most times it is asked for.
- Because it sounds just like the far more common Wesley, the rarity is real on paper but not to the ear — a Westley may still hear his name called across a room and find someone else answering.
- The Princess Bride connection is affectionate rather than awkward, but it is durable: some people will meet the name and immediately think of that film, and say so.
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What they receive
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Westley
Masculine · #619 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Westleys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,900 people named Westley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Westley in 2025?
- Westley ranks #619 among US boy names in 2025, with 453 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Westley?
- About 1 in every 3,771 US boys born in 2025 was named Westley — 453 in all.
- Will my child share the name Westley with classmates?
- Westley will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Westley
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Boston#620 · Harlan#617 · Keegan#621 · Jaiden#617 · Koen#622 · Dominick#622 · Kylian#622 · Colby#615
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Westley? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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