Wells
Pronounced W EH1 L Z (ARPABET)
- 1 syllable
- Peaked 2024
- 144 years in use
- 1 spelling
How popular is Wells?
Wells is a boys' name, and first appears in 1881. It has been given to 6,639 children — the 1,338th most common boys' name on record.
It is climbing hard: more than ten times as many births in the past decade as in the one before it. Its best single year was 2024, when 897 children were given it.
Welles is counted with it here, since the two are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Wells and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Welles
Characteristics
- 1 syllable
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- W EH1 L Z
- Stress pattern:
- 1
- Syllables:
- 1
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Wells
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Wells
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Wells?
- Wells ranks 1,338th among boys' names in US records, with 6,639 births since 1881. Over the past decade it accounts for 4,944.
- Is Wells a unisex name?
- No. Wells is recorded almost entirely as a boys' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Wells most popular?
- 2024, when 897 children were given the name. It has been in use for 144 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Wells spelled?
- Welles. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.