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Waverly

#1,028 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Possibly flickering, wavering + woodland, clearing

Waverly has been given to 6,550 babies in the U.S. since 1914. In 2025 it ranked #1,028 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2022, with 384 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 70% girls, 30% boys all-time.

Babies named Waverly, 2025

1 in 13,600

Waverly over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Waverly over time

In 2025, Waverly went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

18812025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Waverly: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly flickering, wavering + woodland, clearing

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Waverly means

Waverly may mean “flickering, wavering + woodland, clearing”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,563 girls were recorded with the name Waverly between 1914 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 384 in 2022; its best national rank was #736 in 2020.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #736 in 2020 to #1,028 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,741 in 2015 to #1,028 in 2025.

In the United States, 1,987 boys were recorded with the name Waverly between 1881 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 46 in 1951; its best national rank was #734 in 1900.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Waverly?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 13,600
244 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 6,590
0.02% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,028
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
9,419 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Waverly sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5004%

Put another way: gather 9,419 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Waverly. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Waverlys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Waverly was born before 2019 — so the typical Waverly is around 6 today.

Median birth year
2019
About 6 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
43.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
87.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
4,442
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 43.4% of all recorded uses (1,979).

Is Waverly rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−122
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−292
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+713
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.02×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
63.5%
Peak was 2022 (384)
Years since peak
3
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#736
2020

Spellings of Waverly

Waverly is not the most common spelling — Beverly is, with 63.4% against Waverly's 0.76%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Waverly is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Waverly was most concentrated in Mississippi — about 1 in 1,176 girls, against 1 in 4,937 across all states with data. It was least common in Arizona (1 in 50,000).

285 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Mississippi1 in 1,176
  2. 2Kentucky1 in 1,923
  3. 3Virginia1 in 2,128
  4. 4Tennessee1 in 2,222
  5. 5West Virginia1 in 2,273
  6. 6Iowa1 in 2,632
  7. 7North Carolina1 in 3,030
  8. 8Indiana1 in 3,125

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Waverly is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 68% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Where Waverly is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Waverly was most concentrated in Virginia — about 1 in 5,882 boys, against 1 in 41,957 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in —).

017 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Virginia1 in 5,882
  2. 2North Carolina1 in 33,333
  3. 3Maryland1 in —
  4. 4New York1 in —
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Waverly has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Waverly around the world

Where Waverly ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2018–2023
    #5,688
    in 2023
  • Canada
    1997–2024
    #1,399
    in 2024

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Statistics Canada. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Waverly by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,028
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 292
Best rank ever
#736
2020
Peak year
2022
384 that year
First recorded
1914
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,563
Count in 2025
244

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#734
1900
Peak year
1951
46 that year
First recorded
1881
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
1,987
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Waverly

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

EmberlyAmberlyCharlySherlyTimberlyKarlyKymberlyWaverleyMarlyAverlyPearlyEverlyKemberlyWavaEmerlyKimerlyRiverlyMayerlyWaverleeShirlyCherlyOrlyArlyCarly

Names with a curve like Waverly

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Waverly, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

DenverNovaleeMarloweEzraDiorAspynEmilianaSaoirsePersephoneNyomiJourniMaisy

Sibling names for Waverly

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Waverly

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