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Whitney

Whitney: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“white island”
Origin
Old English
Say it
HWIT-nee · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls (94% of all uses)

From an English surname and place name derived from Old English hwit 'white' and ieg 'island'. It later came into use as a given name.

English namesNames meaning natureSurname-style namesClassic names

How popular is Whitney?

202475.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Whitney in 2024251

2024 rank#1,049 girls

Peak year1986

Total US babies since 1880103,403

Whitney is fading: recent use is about 56% of its level ten years before.

Names like Whitney

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Audreynoble strength · Old English
  • Ashleyash tree clearing · Old English
  • Oakleyoak clearing · Old English
  • Hadleyheather field · Old English
  • Blakelydark wood or clearing · Old English
  • KimberlyCyneburg's meadow · Old English
  • Presleypriest's meadow · Old English
  • Marleypleasant wood · Old English

Whitney questions

What does the name Whitney mean?

Whitney means "white island". It comes from Old English. From an English surname and place name derived from Old English hwit 'white' and ieg 'island'. It later came into use as a given name.

Is Whitney a boy or girl name?

Whitney is mainly a girl's name in US records (94% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Whitney?

251 US babies were named Whitney in 2024. Its peak year was 1986.

How do you pronounce Whitney?

Whitney is usually pronounced HWIT-nee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.