Boy · #3,691 in 2026

Welles

Name: Popularity of the name Welles in U.S. births, 1880–2026
Creator: U.S. Social Security Administration
License: https://www.ssa.gov/foia/
Keywords: Welles, baby name, popularity, U.S., SSA, rankings

Welles is an English locational surname originating from Well, a village and mill in Lincolnshire. Its oldest public record is noted c. 1086. Variations include Well and Wells. Notable people with the name include:

Current Rank

#3,691

Peak Rank

#2,407 (2021)

Total Babies

491

5-Yr Trend

-24%

2019

First Year

2020

Last Year

2019

Peak Year

#15532

Peak Rank

Total Count

Years Active

Meaning & Origin of Welles

What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →

The Story of Welles

Welles first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1915, with 5 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 2021, when 56 Welless were born — ranking #2,407 that year. As of 2026, Welles ranks #3,691 for baby boys with 31 births, falling sharply (-24%). In total, more than 491 Welless have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1910s through the 2020s.

Popularity Over Time

Popularity by State

Top 10

11-50

51-100

101-500

500+

No data

Names that sound like Welles

Phonetically similar names — useful when Welles is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Wells
Wels
Welz
Wills
Wils
Wls
Wilz
Wles
Walls
Wheels
Wales
Whales

Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.

Frequently Asked Questions about Welles

What does the name Welles mean?

How popular is Welles in 2026?

In 2026, Welles ranks #3,691 among boys' names in the U.S., with 31 babies given the name that year.

When was Welles most popular?

Welles reached its peak popularity in 2021, ranking #2,407 that year with 56 babies given the name.

In which U.S. states is Welles most popular?

Welles has historically been most popular in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Welles.

Is Welles a unisex name?

In U.S. Social Security records, Welles is primarily a boy's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a girl's name.

What names go well with Welles?

Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Welles include Rahmir, Clarice, Guinn. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data.

About the name Welles

Welles is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1915 and has accumulated 491 births in the dataset. Welles's peak popularity came in 2021 when it ranked #2,407. Use the chart and map above to compare Welles's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.

Continue exploring

Data sources

Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .

Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.