Wellington vs Wells
American parents have registered 7,164 Wellses since 1880, against 2,879 Wellingtons. Wells is still ahead, with 958 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Wellington Wells
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 140 years in which either name was published, Wellington for 116 years and Wells for 24 years. The lead changed hands 11 times.
- 1880–1954 Wellington ahead
- 1955 Wells ahead
- 1956–1967 Wellington ahead
- 1968 Wells ahead
- 1969–1997 Wellington ahead
- 1998 Wells ahead
- 1999–2002 Wellington ahead
- 2003 Wells ahead
- 2004 Wellington ahead
- 2005 Wells ahead
- 2006 Wellington ahead
- 2007–2025 Wells ahead
Side by side
| Wellington | Wells | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,879 | 7,164 |
| Most in one year | 60 | 958 |
| Babies in 2025 | 24 | 958 |
| Estimated living today | 1,400 | 6,500 |
| Median age today | 31 | 4 |
| Peak year | 1922 | 2025 |
| Best rank | 891st boys | 345th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 4,249th | 345th |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1881 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 2,879 | 175 / 6,989 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Wellingtons alive today are over 31; half the Wellses are over 4. That is 27 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Wellington Michigan (7.0×), New York (5.1×), Pennsylvania (4.0×)
- Wells Utah (7.7×), South Carolina (2.4×), Colorado (2.3×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Wellington and Wells.