# Whitney (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/whitney/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “white”, “island”, “white island” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈwɪtni/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 103,657 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 5,994 / 97,663 (94% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 888, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English hwītan, dative of hwīt (“white”) + īeġ (“island”), "white island".

## What it means

Whitney is grouped under white.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 563 | 519 |
| 2012 | 523 | 562 |
| 2013 | 482 | 591 |
| 2014 | 463 | 622 |
| 2015 | 446 | 640 |
| 2016 | 375 | 761 |
| 2017 | 328 | 830 |
| 2018 | 299 | 902 |
| 2019 | 303 | 888 |
| 2020 | 273 | 941 |
| 2021 | 246 | 1,034 |
| 2022 | 245 | 1,047 |
| 2023 | 262 | 982 |
| 2024 | 238 | 1,051 |
| 2025 | 238 | 1,046 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 5 | 14,243 |
| 2012 | 5 | 14,130 |
| 2013 | 9 | 8,743 |
| 2014 | 15 | 5,982 |
| 2015 | 7 | 10,578 |
| 2016 | 12 | 7,126 |
| 2017 | 13 | 6,651 |
| 2018 | 8 | 9,626 |
| 2019 | 8 | 9,689 |
| 2020 | 11 | 7,472 |
| 2021 | 21 | 4,768 |
| 2022 | 16 | 5,852 |
| 2023 | 16 | 5,899 |
| 2024 | 13 | 6,808 |
| 2025 | 13 | 6,782 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 39 | 915 |
| 2012 | 31 | 1,099 |
| 2013 | 24 | 1,360 |
| 2014 | 16 | 1,798 |
| 2015 | 21 | 1,497 |
| 2016 | 15 | 1,920 |
| 2017 | 25 | 1,330 |
| 2018 | 11 | 2,340 |
| 2019 | 9 | 2,643 |
| 2020 | 8 | 2,843 |
| 2021 | 8 | 2,942 |
| 2022 | 9 | 2,673 |
| 2023 | 4 | 4,709 |
| 2024 | 8 | 3,015 |
| 2025 | 8 | 3,035 |

## People named Whitney

- Whitney Houston, American singer, actress, and film producer (1963–2012)
- Whitney Wolfe Herd, American businesswoman
- Whitney Cummings, American actress, comedian and writer (born 1982)
- Whitney Smith, founder of vexillology (1940–2016)
- Whitney Able, American actress and model
- Whitney Port, American fashion designer
- Whitney Thompson, American model
- Whitney Engen, American soccer player
- Whitney Hedgepeth, American swimmer
- Whitney Blake, American film and television actress, director; television producer (1926-2002)
- Whitney Rydbeck, American actor (1945-2024)
- Whitney Young, American civil rights leader (1921–1971)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.