West

Where West comes from

West hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1844
    West Ridgeway born
    British civil servant and colonial administrator
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #505 among boys — 13 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1886
    Peak, #383
    21 babies named West — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1887
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #631.
  5. 1999
    West Duchovny born
    American actress
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • West Duchovny · American actress, born 1999
  • West Ridgeway · British civil servant and colonial administrator, 1844–1930
  • West Hughes Humphreys · United States federal judge, 1806–1882
  • West Iqiebor · Nigerian judoka, born 1964
  • West Dylan Thordson · American composer, born 1992

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.