Browse Names

Wade m English
From an English surname, either Wade 1 or Wade 2.

Waldo 1 m English
From a surname that was derived from the Anglo-Scandinavian given name Waltheof. Its present use in the English-speaking world is usually in honour of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), an American transcendentalist, poet and author. His name came from a surname from his father's side of the family.

Walker m English
From an English surname that referred to the medieval occupational of a walker, also known as a fuller. Walkers would tread on wet, unprocessed wool in order to clean and thicken it. The word ultimately derives from Old English wealcan "to walk".

Wallace m English, Scottish
From a Scottish and English surname that was derived from Norman French waleis meaning "foreigner, Celt, Welshman" (of Germanic origin). It was first used as a given name in honour of William Wallace, a Scottish hero who led the fight against the English in the 13th century.

Wallie m English
Diminutive of Walter or Wallace.

Wallis m & f English (Rare)
From a surname that was a variant of Wallace. Wallis Simpson (1895-1986) was the divorced woman whom Edward VIII married, which forced him to abdicate the British throne.

Wally m English
Diminutive of Walter or Wallace.

Walt m English
Short form of Walter. A famous bearer was the American animator and filmmaker Walt Disney (1901-1966).

Walter m English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Polish, Italian, Germanic
From the Germanic name Waltheri meaning "power of the army", from the elements walt "power, authority" and heri "army". In medieval German tales (notably Waltharius by Ekkehard of Saint Gall) Walter of Aquitaine is a heroic king of the Visigoths. The name was also borne by an 11th-century French saint, Walter of Pontoise. The Normans brought it to England, where it replaced the Old English cognate Wealdhere.... [more]

Walton m English
From a surname that was originally taken from various Old English place names meaning "stream town", "wood town", or "wall town".

Wanda f Polish, English, German, French
Possibly from a Germanic name meaning "a Wend", referring to the Slavic people who inhabited eastern Germany. In Polish legends this was the name of the daughter of King Krak, the legendary founder of Krakow. It was introduced to the English-speaking world by the author Ouida, who used it for the heroine in her novel Wanda (1883).

Ward 1 m English
From an occupational surname for a watchman, derived from Old English weard "guard".

Wardell m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "watch hill" in Old English.

Warner m English
From a Norman surname that was derived from the given name Werner.

Warren m English
From an English surname that was derived either from Norman French warrene meaning "animal enclosure", or else from the town of La Varenne in Normandy. This name was borne by the American president Warren G. Harding (1865-1923) and the investor Warren Buffett (1930-).

Warrick m English (Rare)
From a surname that was a variant of Warwick.

Warwick m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from the name of a town in England, itself from Old English wer "weir, dam" and wic "settlement".

Washington m English, Spanish (Latin American), Portuguese (Brazilian)
From a surname that was originally derived from the name of an English town, itself meaning "settlement belonging to Wassa's people". The given name is usually given in honour of George Washington (1732-1799), commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and the first president of the United States.

Wat m English
Medieval short form of Walter.

Watson m English
From an English surname meaning "son of Wat". A famous fictional bearer of the surname was Dr. Watson, the assistant to Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's mystery stories beginning in 1887.

Waverly f & m English
From the rare English surname Waverley, derived from the name of a place in Surrey, itself possibly from Old English wæfre "flickering, wavering" and leah "woodland, clearing".... [more]

Wayland m English, Anglo-Saxon Mythology
From Old English Weland, probably derived from the Germanic root *wīlą meaning "craft, cunning". In Germanic legend Weland (called Vǫlundr in Old Norse) was a master smith and craftsman. He was captured and hamstrung by King Niðhad, but took revenge by killing the king's sons.

Waylon m English
Variant of Wayland. This name was popularized by country music singer Waylon Jennings (1937-2002), who was originally named Wayland.

Wayne m English
From an occupational surname meaning "wagon maker", derived from Old English wægn "wagon". Use of it as a given name can be partly attributed to the popularity of the actor John Wayne (1907-1979). Another famous bearer is Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky (1961-), generally considered the greatest player in the history of the sport.

Webster m English
From an occupational surname meaning "weaver", derived from Old English webba.

Weldon m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name meaning "hill near a spring" in Old English.

Wells m English
From an English surname that originally denoted a person who lived near a well or spring, from Middle English wille.

Wenda f English (Rare)
Variant of Wendy.

Wendell m English
From a German and Dutch surname that was derived from the given name Wendel. In America this name has been given in honour of the poet Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809-1894) and his son the Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935). The elder's middle name came from his mother's maiden name (which had been brought to America by a Dutch ancestor in the form Wendel, with the extra l added later).

Wendi f English
Variant of Wendy.

Wendy f English
In the case of the character from J. M. Barrie's play Peter Pan (1904), it was created from the nickname fwendy "friend", given to the author by a young friend. However, the name was used prior to the play (rarely), in which case it could be related to the Welsh name Gwendolen and other names beginning with the element gwen meaning "white, blessed". The name only became common after Barrie's play ran.

Wenona f English (Rare)
Variant of Winona.

Wes m English
Short form of Wesley and other names beginning with Wes.

Wesley m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself meaning "west meadow" from Old English west "west" and leah "woodland, clearing". It has been sometimes given in honour of John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of Methodism.

Westley m English
From a surname that was a variant of Wesley.

Weston m English
From an English surname that was derived from a place name, itself from Old English west "west" and tun "enclosure, yard, town".

Whitaker m English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "white field" in Old English.

Whitney f & m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "white island" in Old English. Its popular use as a feminine name was initiated by actress Whitney Blake (1925-2002) in the 1960s, and further boosted in the 1980s by singer Whitney Houston (1963-2012).

Wil m & f English, Dutch
Short form of William and other names beginning with Wil.

Wilbur m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from the nickname Wildbor meaning "wild boar" in Middle English. This name was borne by Wilbur Wright (1867-1912), one half of the Wright brothers, who together invented the first successful airplane. Wright was named after the Methodist minister Wilbur Fisk (1792-1839). A famous fictional bearer is the main character (a pig) in the children's novel Charlotte's Web (1952) by E. B. White.

Wilburn m English
From an English surname that was probably originally derived from an unknown place name. The second element corresponds with Old English burne "stream".

Wilda f English
Meaning uncertain, perhaps from a German surname, or perhaps from the English word wild. It has been in use since the 19th century.

Wilder m English
From an English surname meaning "wild, untamed, uncontrolled", from Old English wilde.

Wiley m English
From a surname that was derived from various English place names: towns named Willey or the River Wylye.

Wilf m English
Short form of Wilfred.

Wilford m English
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "willow ford" in Old English.

Wilfred m English
Means "desiring peace" from Old English willa "will, desire" and friþ "peace". Saint Wilfrid was a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon bishop. The name was rarely used after the Norman Conquest, but it was revived in the 19th century.

Wilfreda f English (Rare)
Feminine form of Wilfred.

Wilfrid m English
Variant of Wilfred.

Wilhelmina f Dutch, German (Rare), English
Dutch and German feminine form of Wilhelm. This name was borne by a queen of the Netherlands (1880-1962).

Wilkie m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a diminutive of the given name William.

Will m English
Short form of William and other names beginning with Will. A famous bearer is American actor Will Smith (1968-), whose full name is Willard.

Willa f English
Feminine form of William.

Willard m English
From an English surname that was derived from the Old German given name Willihard (or the Old English cognate Wilheard).

William m English
From the Germanic name Willehelm meaning "will helmet", composed of the elements willo "will, desire" and helm "helmet, protection". An early saint by this name was the 8th-century William of Gellone, a cousin of Charlemagne who became a monk. The name was common among the Normans, and it became extremely popular in England after William the Conqueror was recognized as the first Norman king of England in the 11th century. From then until the modern era it has been among the most common of English names (with John, Thomas and Robert).... [more]

Willie m & f English
Masculine or feminine diminutive of William. Notable bearers include the American baseball player Willie Mays (1931-2024) and the musician Willie Nelson (1933-).

Willis m English
From an English surname that was derived from Will, a diminutive of William.

Willoughby m & f English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "willow town" in Old English.

Willow f English (Modern)
From the name of the tree, which is ultimately derived from Old English welig.

Willy m & f English, German, Dutch
Diminutive of William, Wilhelm or Willem. It is both masculine and feminine in Dutch.

Wilma f German, Dutch, English, Swedish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish (Latin American)
Short form of Wilhelmina. German settlers introduced it to America in the 19th century.

Wilmer m English, Spanish (Latin American), Swedish
From the Old English name Wilmǣr, likely via a surname that was derived from it. In some cases it might be regarded as a masculine form of Wilma.

Wilson m English, Spanish (Latin American), Portuguese
From an English surname meaning "son of William". The surname was borne by Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), the American president during World War I.

Wilt m English
Short form of Wilton. This name was borne by basketball player Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999).

Wilton m English
From a surname that was derived from the names of several English towns. The town names mean variously "willow town", "well town" or "town on the River Wylye" in Old English. The river name is itself of Celtic origin, possibly meaning "tricky".

Windsor m & f English (Rare)
From an English surname that was from a place name meaning "riverbank with a windlass" in Old English (a windlass is a lifting apparatus). This has been the surname of the royal family of the United Kingdom since 1917.

Winfield m English
From a surname that originated from various English place names, themselves derived from Old English winn "meadow, pasture" and feld "field".

Winfred m English
Means "friend of peace" from the Old English elements wine "friend" and friþ "peace". This was the birth name of the 8th-century missionary Saint Boniface. It became rare after the Norman Conquest, though it was revived in the 19th century.

Winifred f English, Welsh
From Latin Winifreda, possibly from a Welsh name Gwenfrewi (maybe influenced by the Old English masculine name Winfred). Saint Winifred was a 7th-century Welsh martyr, probably legendary. According to the story, she was decapitated by a prince after she spurned his advances. Where her head fell there arose a healing spring, which has been a pilgrimage site since medieval times. Her story was recorded in the 12th century by Robert of Shrewsbury, and she has been historically more widely venerated in England than in Wales. The name has been used in England since at least the 16th century.

Winnie f English
Diminutive of Winifred. Winnie-the-Pooh, a stuffed bear in children's books by A. A. Milne, was named after a real bear named Winnipeg who lived at the London Zoo.

Winnifred f English, Welsh
Variant of Winifred.

Winona f English, Sioux
Means "firstborn daughter" in Dakota or Lakota. According to folklore, this was the name of a daughter of a Dakota chief (possibly Wapasha III) who leapt from a cliff to her death rather than marry a man she hated. Numerous places in the United States have been named after her. The actress Winona Ryder (1971-) was named after the city in Minnesota where she was born.

Winslow m & f English (Rare)
From a surname that was derived from an Old English place name meaning "hill belonging to Wine". A famous bearer of this name was American painter Winslow Homer (1836-1910).

Winston m English
From an English surname that was derived from the Old English given name Wynnstan. A famous bearer was Winston Churchill (1874-1965), the British prime minister during World War II. This name was also borne by the fictional Winston Smith, the protagonist in George Orwell's 1949 novel 1984.

Winter f English (Modern)
From the English word for the season, derived from Old English winter.

Winthrop m English (Rare)
From a surname that was originally taken from town names meaning either "Wine's village" or "Wigmund's village" in Old English.

Winton m English
From a surname that was derived from a place name meaning "enclosure belonging to Wine" in Old English.

Wisdom f & m English (Rare)
Simply from the English word, a derivative of Old English wis "wise".

Wisteria f English (Rare)
From the name of the flowering plant, which was named for the American anatomist Caspar Wistar.

Wolf m German, Yiddish, English (Rare), Germanic
Short form of Wolfgang, Wolfram and other names containing the Old German element wolf meaning "wolf" (Proto-Germanic *wulfaz). It can also be simply from the German or English word. As a Jewish name it can be considered a vernacular form of Zeev.

Wolfe m English (Rare)
Variant of Wolf, influenced by the spelling of the surname (which is also derived from the animal).

Woodie m English
Variant of Woody.

Woodrow m English
From an English surname that was originally derived from a place name meaning "row of houses by a wood" in Old English. It was borne by the American president Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), who was given his mother's maiden name as his middle name (his first name was Thomas). During his candidacy and presidency (1912-1921) the name became popular, reaching the 44th rank in 1913, though it quickly declined after that.

Woody m English
Either a diminutive of names containing wood such as Woodrow, or else from a nickname derived from the English word wood. Famous bearers include the folk singer Woodrow "Woody" Guthrie (1912-1967), the comedian and film director Heywood "Woody" Allen (1935-; born as Allan Stewart Konigsberg), and the actor Woodrow "Woody" Harrelson (1961-). It is also borne by the cartoon characters Woody Woodpecker (debuting 1940) and Woody from the Toy Story movies (beginning 1995).

Wren f English (Modern)
From the English word for the small songbird. It is ultimately derived from Old English wrenna.

Wrenlee f English (Modern)
Variant of Wrenley.

Wrenley f English (Modern)
Elaboration of Wren using the popular name suffix ley.

Wright m English
From an occupational surname meaning "craftsman", ultimately from Old English wyrhta. Famous bearers of the surname were the Wright brothers (Wilbur 1867-1912 and Orville 1871-1948), the inventors of the first successful airplane, and Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), an American architect.

Wyatt m English
From an English surname that was derived from the medieval given name Wyard or Wyot, from the Old English name Wigheard. Wyatt Earp (1848-1929) was an American lawman and gunfighter involved in the famous shootout at the OK Corral.

Wynne 2 m & f English (Rare)
From an English surname that was derived from the given name Wine.

Wynona f English
Variant of Winona.

Wynonna f English (Rare)
Variant of Winona.

Wynter f English (Modern)
Variant of Winter.

Wystan m English (Rare)
From the Old English name Wigstan, composed of the elements wig "battle" and stan "stone". This was the name of a 9th-century Anglo-Saxon saint. It became rare after the Norman Conquest, and in modern times it is chiefly known as the first name of the British poet W. H. Auden (1907-1973).