Given name & surname · also Middle English
Wensley
“Woden”
Wensley is a surname from Middle English, ultimately from Old English.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Wensley goes back to Old English Wōdnes lēah, meaning “Woden’s meadow.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Wensley comes from Middle English, and ultimately from Old English.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Middle English Wednesleȝ, from Old English Wōdnes lēah (“Woden’s meadow”), built from English Woden + -leigh (“lea”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2014. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Wensley through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 100
- 100 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 18 babies
- 2025
- 18
- #5,383 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +100%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 18 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 5,383 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. In 2025, Florida had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (5). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 278 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
People named Wensley
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Wensley, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“high” · “hill”
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>99% boys