Wesley

Where Wesley comes from

Several places in England, from Old English west (“west”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Equivalent to west + -ley (“lea”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Wesley
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #109 among boys — 123 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1962
    Wesley Snipes born
    American actor
  3. 1984
    Wesley Sneijder born
    Dutch association football player
  4. 2025
    Peak, #52
    5,578 babies named Wesley — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname, of 18th century and later usage, today often without any religious connotations.
Namesakes
  • Wesley Sneijder · Dutch association football player, born 1984
  • Wesley Snipes · American actor, born 1962
  • Wesley Clark · United States Army general and 2004 Democratic Party presidential candidate, born 1944
  • Wesley Fofana · French footballer, born 2000
  • Wesley So · Filipino-American chess player, born 1993

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.