Waverly
Torn between Waverly and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
place name meaning 'meadow of quaking aspens'; popularized by Walter Scott's novel Waverley
The story
Waverly is one letter away from the title that escaped a book and entered a city. Walter Scott published Waverley anonymously, naming the novel for its young hero, Edward Waverley, who is pulled into the Jacobite rising. The book became a sensation before Scott publicly acknowledged writing it. Edinburgh's main railway station later took the Waverley spelling from the novels, so a fictional surname became a place where real journeys begin. The given name Waverly often drops the second e. It can also trace back through the English surname and a Surrey place name, possibly built from words for wavering movement and a woodland clearing. Those routes should not be compressed into a single certainty. The loveliest association is already visible: an anonymous title grows larger than its title page, settles on station signs, then returns to personal naming with a small spelling change and the sound of departure.
How popular is Waverly around the world?
In the United States, 1,995 babies were named Waverly between 2020 and 2025.
Waverly is on the official records of the United States and Canada.
United States
1 in 11,000
In the United States, 1,995 babies were named Waverly between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Waverly peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 22,000
In Canada, 17 girls named Waverly were born in 2024, ranked 1,399th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
last on record 2023
Waverly is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
last on record 1959
Waverly is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Waverly
Most people given the name Waverly in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Waverly deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Waverly truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Waverly fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Waverly fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Waverly to your family’s tree →