Wilson
Top 1000
About Wilson
Wilson is a substantive presidential choice far less prevalent than Taylor or Tyler, and with the advantage of being a new route to friendly nickname Will. We see Wilson growing in popularity as an alternative to William; and as a patronymic, it would make a conceivable (if possibly confusing) choice for a son of William.
Being the tenth most common surname in the U.S., Wilson has countless possible last-named namesakes in every field, from politics to show biz. Those with Wilson as a first name are harder to find, beyond soul singer-songwriter Wilson Pickett and Wilson Rawls, author of the beloved book Where the Red Fern Grows. Wilson is also the name of Tom Hank's friend, the volleyball, in the movie Castaway.
As of October 2026, Wilson ranked #673 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #122 in 1913, Nameberry popularity #936.
Editor's take: The name Wilson is a boy's name of English origin meaning "son of Will".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #597 | 461 | 240 |
| 2015 | #621 | 433 | 225.9 |
| 2016 | #614 | 439 | 231.3 |
| 2017 | #642 | 404 | 218.3 |
| 2018 | #619 | 433 | 238.4 |
| 2019 | #644 | 417 | 232.4 |
| 2020 | #656 | 402 | 232.9 |
| 2021 | #710 | 370 | 211.5 |
| 2022 | #689 | 387 | 221.6 |
| 2023 | #673 | 404 | 236.2 |
| 2024 | #644 | 431 | 250.2 |
| 2025 | #673 | 405 | 237.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Wilson.
Famous Wilsons
- Wilson Chandler
American basketball player
- (Stephen) Wilson Bethel
American actor
- Wilson Pickett
American soul and R&B singer
- Wilson Shannon
American politician; 14th and 16th Governor of Ohio
- Wilson Yip
Hong Kong actor, director and screenwriter
- (Woodrow) Wilson Rawls
American novelist
- Ronald Wilson Reagan
40th President of the United States
- Mason Wilson Gamble
American actor
- Woodrow Wilson
28th President of the United States
- Owen and Luke Wilson
American actors
- Brian
Dennis and Carl Wilson, founding members of the Beach Boys
Wilson in pop culture
- Wilson
volleyball in movie "Cast Away"
- Wilson West
character on TV's "7th Heaven"
- Wilson Percival Higgsbury
character from video game "Don't Starve"
- Wilson Klaus
character on TV's "Into the Dark"
- Dr. James Wilson
character on TV's "House" known mostly as Wilson
- "Wilson
" song by Phish
- "Jackie and Wilson
" song by Hozier
- Wilson Fye
Character from the webcomic "Sparklecare Hospital"