Wells

Where Wells comes from

From Old English wella, genitive plural of well (“spring”), in reference to a residence near a group of springs. The original use of the genitive case here would've indicated origin. The -s ending of the modern form would be added later on upon reanalysis after the breakdown of the case system (outside of pronouns) that occurred in the development of English.
— Wiktionary's entry for Wells
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1881
    First appearance
    #866 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1895
    Wells Coates born
    Canadian architect
  3. 1983
    Wells Thompson born
    American soccer player
  4. 2025
    Peak, #345
    944 babies named Wells — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Wells Coates · Canadian architect, 1895–1958
  • Wells Thompson · American soccer player, born 1983
  • Wells Tower · author, born 1973
  • Wells Goodykoontz · American politician, 1872–1944
  • Wells Root · American film director and screenwriter, 1900–1993

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.