boy's name
Winston
WIN-stun
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 35,692
the United States
#382
2025 births
Winston is a boy's name of English origin meaning "Wine's settlement", from an Old English personal name plus tun. It is a place name in Gloucestershire that became a family name and then, through one man, a global one.
- Winston is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2019, when 866 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,994 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Winston 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 | 42 |
| 1890s | 90 |
| 1900s | 195 |
| 1910s | 1,444 |
| 1920s | 2,345 |
| 1930s | 1,873 |
| 1940s | 3,702 |
| 1950s | 2,540 |
| 1960s | 1,962 |
| 1970s | 1,668 |
| 1980s | 2,004 |
| 1990s | 2,520 |
| 2000s | 2,339 |
| 2010s | 5,508 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,724 |
What Winston means
Winston means the farmstead of a man called Wine — an Old English personal name meaning friend. The joyful stone reading offered by some sources reads the modern spelling rather than the Old English behind it.
Where Winston comes from
Winston is a habitational name from Winston in Gloucestershire, recorded as Wynestun, the settlement of Wine, an Old English personal name meaning friend. The Churchill family acquired the name through the marriage of Sarah Winston to John Churchill in the sixteenth century, and it passed down as a given name until Winston Churchill made it internationally recognized. In Jamaica and across the Caribbean it became a common given name in the twentieth century for the same reason. Orwell's Winston Smith takes the name deliberately, for its association with wartime England.
Winston in use
Winston appears in our records in every year from 1880 and peaked in 2019.
How popular is Winston?
In 2025, Winston was given to 830 babies in the United States, ranking #382 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Winston 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 Winston
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Winston also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Winston over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Winston
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Sibling names for Winston
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Winston — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Winston
What does the name Winston mean?
Wine's settlement, from an Old English personal name meaning friend plus tun, a farmstead.
Is Winston named after Churchill?
Most modern use follows him. The Churchill family took the name by marriage in the sixteenth century.
Does Winston mean joyful stone?
No. That reading takes the modern spelling at face value rather than the Old English behind it.
How popular is the name Winston?
In 2025, Winston was given to 830 babies in the United States, ranking #382 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Winston a girl's or a boy's name?
Winston is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Winston?
Winston has 2 syllables.
When was Winston most popular?
Winston peaked in 2019, when 866 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Winston?
Winston is usually shortened to Win and Winnie.
Is Winston a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Winston currently ranks #346 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.