Wayne

Where Wayne comes from

An occupational surname for a cartwright, Old English wægen (“wagon”). Cf. wain.
— Wiktionary's entry for Wayne
  • 1 syllable
  • Vowel-ended
Wayne through the years
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #356 among boys, with 23 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1946
    Peak, #29
    8,807 babies named Wayne, its best rank.
  3. 1961
    Wayne Gretzky born
    Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  4. 1968
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #63.
  5. 1985
    Wayne Rooney born
    English footballer and manager
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Wayne Rooney · English footballer and manager, born 1985
  • Wayne Gretzky · Canadian ice hockey player and coach, born 1961
  • Wayne Bridge · English footballer, born 1980
  • Wayne Knight · American actor, born 1955
  • Wayne Shorter · American jazz saxophonist and composer, 1933–2023

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.