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Wells

#347 in 2025Boys' name

Spring

Wells has been given to 7,164 babies in the U.S. since 1881. In 2025 it ranked #347 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 944 recorded.

Babies named Wells, 2025

1 in 3,510

Wells over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
02505007501K18801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Wells: meaning, origin, and history

Spring

surname transfer

What Wells means

Wells means “spring”, associated with well.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Old English wella, genitive plural of well (“spring”), in reference to a residence near a group of springs. The original use of the genitive case here would've indicated origin. The -s ending of the modern form would be added later on upon reanalysis after the breakdown of the case system (outside of pronouns) that occurred in the development of English.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Wells (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Wells is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Wells comes through Old English wella.

Wells is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Wells is pronounced /wɛlz/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,989 boys were recorded with the name Wells between 1881 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 944 in 2025; its best national rank was #347 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #546 in 2020 to #347 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,739 in 2015 to #347 in 2025.

In the United States, 175 girls were recorded with the name Wells between 1998 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 18 in 2019; its best national rank was #6,657 in 2023.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #10,204 in 2020 to #7,863 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #14,400 in 2015 to #7,863 in 2025.

How common is Wells?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 3,510
944 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 1,810
0.06% of boys
Rank, 2025
#347
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
2,435 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Wells sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

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 1003%
School of 50013%

Put another way: gather 2,435 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Wells. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Wellss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Wells was born before 2021 — so the typical Wells is around 4 today.

Median birth year
2021
About 4 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
61.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
84.9%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
6,368
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 61.7% of all recorded uses (4,310).

Is Wells 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
+31
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+199
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,392
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
10.61×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (944)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
25.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#347
2025

Spellings of Wells

Wells is not the most common spelling — Kelly is, with 30.3% against Wells's 2.6%.

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 Wells is used

Across 2016–2025, Wells was most concentrated in Utah — about 1 in 595 boys, against 1 in 2,924 across all states with data. It was least common in Nevada (1 in 20,000).

5168 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Utah1 in 595
  2. 2North Dakota1 in 980
  3. 3Nebraska1 in 1,190
  4. 4South Carolina1 in 1,220
  5. 5Iowa1 in 1,235
  6. 6South Dakota1 in 1,299
  7. 7Minnesota1 in 1,449
  8. 8Alabama1 in 1,613

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.

Geographically, Wells is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 67% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Wells around the world

Where Wells 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
    2023–2024
    #5,120
    in 2024
  • Canada
    2016–2024
    #431
    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.

Notable people named Wells

People whose public names include Wells, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Wells in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Wells. Linked forms have their own page here.

WillsWalls

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Wells by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#347
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 199
Best rank ever
#347
2025
Peak year
2025
944 that year
First recorded
1881
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,989
Count in 2025
944

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#7,863
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 2,341
Best rank ever
#6,657
2023
Peak year
2019
18 that year
First recorded
1998
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
175
Count in 2025
14

Names similar to Wells

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

WeldonWeltonMillsWellesWelbyWellerWellingtonWelfordWillsWelchWeldenWelcomeWelbornWelseyWellmanWeltyWelmerWelkerWellesleyWelburnWelbertRallsKells

Names with a curve like Wells

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

OnyxShepherdBakerKoaSaintBanksCallahanJazielKodaTadeoZyaireKylo

Sibling names for Wells

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 Wells

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