Wellington
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Meaning
an English place name, famous as the Duke of Wellington's title; Brazil made the Iron Duke's name a boys' favorite of the 1980s and 90s
The story
Wellington is an English place name that became world-famous as a title: Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo and gave his name to a capital city and a pair of boots. England, out of deference, almost never uses ducal titles as first names. Brazil felt no such restraint. Wellington entered the Brazilian mainstream in the mid-20th century and peaked in the 1980s; the 2010 census found 77,000 in all, plus another 50,000 spelled Welington, the way the name actually sounds in Portuguese. It is one of the purest examples of Brazil's love affair with grand English names: the title of the Iron Duke, worn by boys from Recife to Porto Alegre, no aristocracy required.
How popular is Wellington around the world?
In the United States, 205 babies were named Wellington between 2020 and 2025. At the 2022 census, 95,702 people in Brazil were named Wellington, the 329th most common name, with a median age of 33.
Wellington is on the official records of the United States, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 110,000
In the United States, 205 babies were named Wellington between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Wellington has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Brazil
1 in 2,100
At the 2022 census, 95,702 people in Brazil were named Wellington, the 329th most common name, with a median age of 33.
Among people named Wellington living in Brazil at the 2022 census, roughly as many were born in the 1980s as in the 1990s, more than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 763 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 260,000
In Spain, 173 residents are named Wellington, ranked 5,225th among men, with a mean age of 38 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Austria
last on record 2015
Wellington is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Canada
last on record 2021
Wellington is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
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)
Chile
last on record 2018
Wellington is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Montevideo City
last on record 2009
Wellington is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
South Australia
last on record 2005
Wellington 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 10 other recordsWhy
- Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
- Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.
- Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Wellington deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Wellington 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 Wellington fits with your family’s names and surname.
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