Wells
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Meaning
surname, "dweller by the spring"
The story
Wells is an English surname meaning simply someone who lived by the springs or wells, the fresh water a village gathered around, so at its root it is a name of clear water and gathering places. Its brightest bearer is H.G. Wells, one of the fathers of modern science fiction, who imagined time machines and Martian invasions before the twentieth century had properly begun. That gives the plain old surname a surprising spark of the visionary. Crisp, single-syllable and unfussy, it fits the modern taste for surname first names like Brooks and Banks. Brand new in that role, Wells has climbed fast in the United States and reads as current as it has ever been. Clean, grounded and quietly imaginative, Wells hands a child the image of a wellspring, fresh water and new ideas both rising from the same source.
How popular is Wells around the world?
In the United States, 4,396 babies were named Wells between 2020 and 2025.
Wells is on the official records of the United States, Canada and Brazil.
United States
1 in 5,000
In the United States, 4,396 babies were named Wells between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Wells peaked in the 2020s. Wells went to 96 US babies in 2015 and 958 in 2025, 10.0 times as many.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 5,100
In Canada, 72 boys named Wells were born in 2024, the 431st most common name among boys 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)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 35 people in Brazil were named Wells, ranked 85,084th, with a median age of 40.
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
England and Wales
last on record 2024
Wells is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
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
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 South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. 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 Wells
Most people given the name Wells 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 Wells deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Wells 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 Wells fits with your family’s names and surname.
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