boy's name
Wells
WELZ
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 7,616
the United States
#347
2025 births
Wells is a boy's name of English origin meaning someone who lived by a spring. It comes from the Old English wella, a spring or stream, and the S marks the place rather than a father — at the wells, not son of Well.
- Wells is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 958 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,461 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1881.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Wells over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 16 |
| 1890s | 5 |
| 1900s | 6 |
| 1910s | 172 |
| 1920s | 193 |
| 1930s | 119 |
| 1940s | 110 |
| 1950s | 90 |
| 1960s | 68 |
| 1970s | 87 |
| 1980s | 71 |
| 1990s | 108 |
| 2000s | 166 |
| 2010s | 1,557 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,396 |
What Wells means
Wells names a person who lived beside springs. The Old English wella meant a natural spring rather than a dug shaft, which is the sense that survives in wellspring and in place names across England.
Where Wells comes from
Wells comes from the Old English wella, a spring or stream, and is both a topographic surname for someone living by one and a habitational one from places called Wells — most notably the cathedral city in Somerset, named for the springs beside the cathedral that still fill the bishop's moat. The modern sense of a well as a dug shaft came later; the older meaning is a spring that rises of itself. H. G. Wells gave the surname its literary standing. First-name use is recent and American, appearing in our records from 1881 but only rising in the last decade.
Wells in use
Wells charts in only two of the seven countries we track and reached its highest recorded use in 2025.
How popular is Wells?
In 2025, Wells was given to 958 babies in the United States, ranking #347 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Wells is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Wells
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Wells also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Wells over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Wells in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Welles
Sibling names for Wells
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Wells — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Wells
What does the name Wells mean?
Someone who lived by springs, from the Old English wella, a natural spring.
Is Wells a place name?
Also yes. Wells in Somerset takes its name from the springs beside the cathedral.
Is Wells a boy's or a girl's name?
It is given almost entirely to boys.
How popular is the name Wells?
In 2025, Wells was given to 958 babies in the United States, ranking #347 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
How many syllables are in Wells?
Wells has 1 syllable.
When was Wells most popular?
Wells peaked in 2025, when 958 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Wells a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Wells currently ranks #347 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.