Wenceslaus

Boys' name

Greater, more + fame, glory

Wenceslaus has been given to 61 babies in the U.S. since 1915. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1928, with 11 recorded.

Babies named Wenceslaus, 1939

1 in 441,000

Wenceslaus over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Wenceslaus: meaning, origin, and history

Greater, more + fame, glory

Slavic languages

What Wenceslaus means

Wenceslaus means “greater, more + fame, glory”, associated with vęťьjь and slava.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Latin Wenceslaus, a Latinization of Old Czech Vácslav, from Proto-Slavic *Vęťeslavъ (from *vęťьjь (“greater, more”) + *slava (“fame, glory”)). Doublet of Vyacheslav.

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Wenceslaus is used in English and Latin. Its origins include Slavic languages.

Wenceslaus comes through Latin Wenceslaus, Old Czech Vácslav and Proto-Slavic *Vęťeslavъ.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Vácslav and Vyacheslav.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Latin, Wenceslaus is pronounced [wɛŋˈkɛs.ɫa.ʊs].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 61 boys were recorded with the name Wenceslaus between 1915 and 1939. Its highest annual count was 11 in 1928; its best national rank was #2,649 in 1928.

How common is Wenceslaus?

Wenceslaus had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1939, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1939: 1 in 441,000; 5 of 2,203,433 births
Among boys only: 1 in 221,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1939: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 305,462 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Wenceslaus 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 1939 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 305,462 children born in 1939 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Wenceslaus. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Wenceslauss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Wenceslaus was born before 1922 — so the typical Wenceslaus is around 103 today.

Median birth year: 1922; About 103 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 44.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 0; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 44.3% of all recorded uses (27).

Is Wenceslaus 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1928 (11)
Years since peak: 97; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Steady; 6.7% average annual change
Best rank ever: #2,649; 1928

Where Wenceslaus is used

Across 1910–2025, Wenceslaus was most concentrated in Illinois — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,422,413 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Illinois1 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. Wenceslaus has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Wenceslaus by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #2,649; 1928
Peak year: 1928; 11 that year
First recorded: 1915
Last recorded: 1939
All-time count: 61
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Wenceslaus

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

Wentworth Wensley Zaccheaus Wenceslao Wendelin Wenston Thaddeaus Bronislaus Nichlaus Andreaus Ladislaus Wendolyn Boleslaus Nickalaus Wences Wendle Miecislaus Stanislaus Wenford Wenzel Matthaus Wendal Emmaus Nichalaus

Sibling names for Wenceslaus

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

For a sister

Edward Paul Charline Ardis Germaine Darline Marvel Richard

For a brother

Frances Jules Bud Rolland Normand Laverne Jewel Carrol

Explore around Wenceslaus

Top names of 1928, Wenceslaus's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1928 Boys' names starting with W