Wilson

Meaning: Son of Will
Origin: English

Boy's name · #673 in the US (2025) · Timeless

Popularity over time

Wilson holds its lane: charted since 1880 and rarely far from where it stands today (#673 in 2025). About 49,000 boys have carried it along the way. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Wilson is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 35 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Wilson ranks in other countries and regions.

#234 in Ecuador (2025) · #1,447 in Sweden (2025) · #1,791 in England & Wales (2025) · #2,151 in France (2025) · #793 in Canada (2024).

Famous Wilsons

Wilson Palacios — Honduran footballer
Wilson Pickett — American male singer and songwriter (1941–2006)
Wilson Kipketer — Kenyan and Danish middle distance runner
Wilson Oruma — Nigerian and French footballer
Wilson da Silva Piazza — Brazilian footballer (born 1943)

As a surname

It is also an American family name — about 802,000 people carried it as a surname in the 2010 census.

Woodrow Wilson — President of the United States from 1913 to 1921 (1856–1924)
Harold Wilson — Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964-1970 and 1974-1976 (1916–1995)
Charles Thomson Rees Wilson — Scottish physicist and meteorologist (1869–1959)

In stories & tradition

Wilson (Kingpin) — Spider-Man (video game)
Wilson Edwards — Fictional scientist
Wilson Fisk — Daredevil (TV series)

What Wilsons become

Among 763 notable people named Wilson:

Business leaders appear 1.66× more often than among typical names — e.g. Wilson Ruffin Abbott, American businessperson, landowner (1801–1876).

Similar names: Alfonso · Wilmer · Ramon · Nelson · Edison · Jefferson

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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