UK girl's name
Wednesday
Denotes the fourth day of the week, deriving from the Old English Wodnesdæg.
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Wednesday is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Wednesday popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #3695, with 6 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2023, with 15 births.
This profile covers 111 England and Wales registrations across 18 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 40% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 110 living people in the UK are called Wednesday. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Wednesday ranked #3695 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 6 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2023, when 15 girls were registered as Wednesday.
- • About 110 living people in the UK are estimated to have Wednesday as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#3695
2024
Births in 2024
6
Latest year
Peak year
2023
15 births
Estimated living
110
2026
Meaning
What does Wednesday mean?
The name Wednesday is an English name that originated from the Old English word "Wodnesdæg", which means "Woden's day" or "day of Woden". Woden was the chief Anglo-Saxon god and the name was derived from the Old English name for the planet Mercury, which was associated with the Roman god Mercury.
The name was used to refer to the fourth day of the week, which was named after the Germanic god Woden or Odin. The name Wednesday has been in use since the early days of the English language, and it first appeared in written records around the 9th century.
While the name Wednesday is not commonly used as a given name, there are a few notable historical figures who have borne this name. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Wednesday was Wednesday Addams, a fictional character from the Addams Family series created by cartoonist Charles Addams in the 1930s.
Another famous person named Wednesday was Wednesday Bushañez, a Spanish painter who lived during the 16th century. She was known for her portraits and religious paintings, and her work can be found in various museums across Spain.
In the 20th century, there was an American actress named Wednesday Weld, who was born in 1932 and starred in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and "The Diary of Anne Frank".
Another notable person with the name Wednesday was Wednesday Barker, an American actress and model who was born in 1942 and appeared in several television shows and films in the 1960s and 1970s.
Finally, one of the more recent examples of the name Wednesday is Wednesday Genevieve Karlsson, a Swedish singer and songwriter who was born in 1987 and has released several albums and singles in her home country.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Wednesday over time
The chart below shows babies named Wednesday registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Wednesday, the clearest high point is 2023. The latest England and Wales figure is 6 births in 2024, compared with 15 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wednesday by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Wednesday was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #2838 | 46 | 5 |
| 2010s | #3557 | 27 | 4 |
| 2000s | #4063 | 23 | 6 |
| 1990s | #2874 | 15 | 3 |
Related
Names similar to Wednesday
- Willow 24,627
- Wren 2,824
- Winnie 2,339
- Wiktoria 1,725
- Winter 1,458
- Winifred 1,113
- Wynter 965
- Whitney 880
- Weronika 811
- Willa 548
- Wendy 509
- Willow-Rose 470
FAQ
Wednesday: questions and answers
How popular is the name Wednesday in the UK right now?
In 2024, Wednesday was ranked #3695 for girls in England and Wales, with 6 births registered.
When was Wednesday most popular?
The peak year on record was 2023, with 15 babies registered as Wednesday in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Wednesday?
Denotes the fourth day of the week, deriving from the Old English Wodnesdæg.
How many people are called Wednesday in the UK?
A total of 111 babies have been registered as Wednesday across the 18 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.