Wyatt
Masculine · “either "brave in war" or "wood”
Wyatt is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 208,452 boys against 1,362 girls since 1880. See Wyatt as a girl name
Wyatt began as a medieval English personal name, hardened into a surname, and then came back around as a first name on American ground — helped along by the Old West and by a lawman whose name is still spoken in the same breath as Tombstone. Two syllables, a firm start and a soft landing: WY-ət. It has been on US records since the earliest years of the count, quietly, long before its recent wave.
How old is the name Wyatt?
Wyatt was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Wyatt is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 204,000 people named Wyatt are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Wyatt most popular?
Wyatt peaked in 2017, reaching #25 nationally. Today it ranks #38, 13 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Where it comes from
From Wīgheard / Wido to Wyatt
The story of Wyatt
In medieval England, Wyot was an everyday given name; when the English began fixing family names, it settled into Wyatt and its cousins Wyat, Wiatt and Guyatt. Like so many English surnames, it crossed to North America and then made the leap back into first-name use, which is where American parents met it. The Western era gave it a particular gleam — Wyatt Earp, the marshal of the O.K. Corral gunfight, kept the name in circulation through a century of films and television. Its real rise as a boy's first name is recent and largely American, with a steady footing in Canada as well.
Meaningscholars disagree
either "brave in war" or "wood, wide", depending on which root you follow
Two serious lines compete. One traces Wyatt to the Old English name Wīgheard, from elements meaning "war" and "hardy, brave". The other takes it from Wyot, a medieval English pet form of Guy — from Germanic Wido, tied to words for wood or for wide. Both were live in medieval England, and the surname may well collect from both.
Cultural footprint
Wyatt Earp (b. 1848) — Lawman of the O.K. Corral
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Wīgheard / Wido
- Wyot
- Wyattsurname
- Wyattgiven name
Related forms: Guy · Guido · Wido · Wyat · Wiatt
Pronouncing Wyatt
WY-ət
Stress on the first syllable, which rhymes with "why". The ending is an unstressed "ut", the same shape as "quiet" — and the two names are occasionally misheard for each other over the phone.
Nicknames for Wyatt
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
- 20169,581 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #25reached in 2017
- Change vs 2022
- −9.8%6,480 in 2025, from 7,184
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.
Wyatt in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Guy in French — related form
- Guido in Italian — related form
- Wido in Germanic (medieval) — related form
- Wyat in English — spelling variant
- Wiatt in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida. International figures from Statistics Canada. Sources
Wyatts among us
people named Wyatt are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 264 born in 2025 was named Wyatt
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 Bruce test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Wyatt's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Bruce climbed just as high around 1952, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Bruce's path sketches the road Wyatt is walking now.
Wyatt is coming down from a big peak (#25 in 2017). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Wyatt is headed
Wyatt 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.
Wyatt beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Wyatt in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Instantly recognizable spelling for most American ears, thanks to a century of Westerns — people generally write it correctly on the first try.
- Short and stress-clear: two syllables, no pronunciation debate, easy for a small child to say and to learn to write.
- Works as a surname-style name, so it sits comfortably in formal and casual settings alike and travels across gender lines.
- Charts in Canada as well as the US, so it is familiar rather than foreign across the border.
- A documented English name line running back to the Middle Ages, alongside a very recent American wave.
- The Old West association is strong and specific. For most people the name calls up a marshal and a gunfight before anything else — a good story to some ears, a costume to others.
- The double-t spelling is standard, but Wyat and Wiatt exist, and the name gets typed as one t often enough that a correction now and then is likely.
- Almost every child with this spelling is a boy. A girl named Wyatt is on solid ground — it is a surname, and surnames travel — but she will be explaining the choice more often than her brothers would.
- Nickname options are thin. Beyond "Wy", there is not much to fall back on, which suits some families and frustrates others.
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What they receive
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Wyatt
Masculine · #38 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Wyatts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 204,000 people named Wyatt are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Wyatt in 2025?
- Wyatt ranks #38 among US boy names in 2025, with 6,480 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Wyatt?
- About 1 in every 264 US boys born in 2025 was named Wyatt — 6,480 in all.
- Will my child share the name Wyatt with classmates?
- Wyatt will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Wyatt
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Gabriel#37 · Mason#39 · Jackson#36 · Bennett#40 · David#35 · Dylan#41 · Thomas#34 · Roman#42
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Wyatt? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Wyatt and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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