Holiday Calendar

National Wayne Day

Next celebratedFriday, March 26, 2027

Every Wayne is carrying a word for a wagon, since the surname began with the man who made them. March 26 belongs to the first-name Waynes, 10,169 of whom were registered in America in 1947 alone.

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Last updated September 6, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?
YEARLY DATEMarch 26
OBSERVED INInternationally
CATEGORYNames
ORIGIN

Community Origin

FOUNDING ENTITY
Not documented
FIRST OBSERVED
Not documented
HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

The people with the name keep it going.

No founder, sponsoring organisation or establishing document has been identified for National Wayne Day. It circulates on holiday-listing sites and among the people who carry the name.

+ Know the story? Submit a founder Help us complete this holiday
INTRO

Hollywood borrowed this surname from a Revolutionary War general

National Wayne Day belongs to the people who were given Wayne as a first name. John Wayne was not one of them.

In 1930 Fox needed a screen name for a young actor whose own name was Marion Morrison. Director Raoul Walsh, a fan of "Mad" Anthony Wayne, came up with the surname. The studio's vice president, Winnie Sheehan, supplied the John, which some believe was an homage to the director John Ford.

The first-name Waynes have a record of their own, and it has a summit. In 1947, 10,169 American boys were registered as Wayne. That is the biggest year the name has had in 146 years of Social Security data.

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ORIGINS

Wayne Day history

INTRODUCTION

On 22 October 1794 a new fort was dedicated with a military parade and the firing of fifteen cannon rounds, one for each state then in the union. The general who had ordered it built did not stay.

He left the fort under Colonel John Francis Hamtramck, and it was Hamtramck who chose the name Fort Wayne, in honour of his commander. The surname has been travelling ever since.

CHAPTER 01

Who Anthony Wayne actually was

Wayne was only ever his family name. Anthony Wayne was a major general of the Revolutionary War, born on 1 January 1745 near Paoli, Pennsylvania. He died at Presque Isle in December 1796.

Even the nickname is unsettled. The History Center in Fort Wayne sets out two accounts: Washington Irving credited Wayne's daring valor at Stony Point, while a rival story has a jailed soldier, refused release and given 29 lashes, muttering that Anthony must be mad.

CHAPTER 02

How the surname got onto the map

Indiana wrote its version on a roadside. A state historical marker installed in 1960 records that Wayne Township was named for Gen. Anthony Wayne. In the marker's own wording he defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers in 1794 and opened large areas for settlement by the Treaty of Greene Ville in 1795.

The people on the other side of that sentence tell it differently. When Fort Wayne, Indiana, voted itself a day for the general in 2019, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma objected.

Diane Hunter, the tribe's historic preservation officer, said of Wayne: "He destroyed our villages and food supplies; it was his intention to wipe us out."

CHAPTER 03

March 26 has none of that

National Wayne Day sits at the end of all this carrying nothing of its own. The fort has a dated dedication, the township has a state marker, and the screen name has the studio's own account. The earliest trace of the observance is a holiday listing captured in an archive in 2022, which is a floor rather than a founding.

TIMELINE

Timeline

Anthony Wayne is born

The future major general is born on 1 January near Paoli, Pennsylvania.

A colonel names the fort

Fifteen cannon rounds mark the dedication, and the colonel left in charge attaches Wayne's name to it.

Treaty of Greene Ville

Indiana's state marker credits Wayne with opening large areas for settlement through the treaty.

Wayne leaves the US top 100

The last year the name ranked inside the hundred most common for American boys.

Texas gives John Wayne a day

HCR 130 designates May 26 as John Wayne Day for a ten-year period beginning in 2015.

Eight Waynes in England and Wales

The Office for National Statistics records eight boys given the name that year.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Wayne Day

MEANING

Wayne began as the name for the man who made the wagon.

Behind the Name derives Wayne from an occupational surname meaning wagon maker, built on the Old English word wægn, wagon. Every Wayne is carrying a word for a wagon.

PLACE

Hawaii gave the name a top ten

Among boys born in Hawaii between 1945 and 1954, Wayne ranked tenth, with 1,199 boys given the name. Across the United States as a whole it never reached a top ten in any year of the record.

REGISTER

It was a girls' name too, and then it stopped

The name was given to American girls as well, in small numbers. 1992 is the last year it clears the Social Security Administration's five-birth threshold in the girls' file, with five girls.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Wayne Day by the Numbers

23
US boys named Wayne, 1880
#29
Wayne's best US boys' rank, 1946
422
US boys named Wayne, 2025
16
US counties named Wayne

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Wayne Day

EDITOR'S PICK

Ask a Wayne how the name reached them

Every Wayne got the name from somewhere. Ask where, and write the answer down before it goes.

LOOK

Look up the year the Wayne in your life was born

Britain's Office for National Statistics publishes the whole boys' list each year, not just the top hundred. Find the right year and see how much company they had.

PLAN

Plan a stop in a town or county called Wayne

American counties, townships and at least one city carry the name on their signs. Pick one within driving distance and go and read the plaque.

WATCH

Watch the 1930 western that launched the screen name

The Big Trail was shot in seven states, with 20,000 extras and a new 70mm format. It is the film the new name was made for.

SEND

Send the date to every Wayne in your phone

A name day only works if the people it is for hear about it. A message costs nothing, and it is the whole point of the day.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Wayne Day?

1 / 8

Who supplied the surname when Fox renamed Marion Morrison in 1930?

Answer

No. It is an unofficial observance with no legal standing that research could locate, so March 26 is a normal working day.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

13sources
7primary records
10independently dated
Primary records
Social Security Administration2026-08
National baby names data, names.zip (1880 to 2025), Internet Archive capture
Every US given name recorded on a Social Security card application, by birth year and sex.
View source
Social Security Administration2026-08
State-specific baby names data, namesbystate.zip, Internet Archive capture
The same registration data broken out by state of birth from 1910 onward.
View source
US Census Bureau2020
2020 FIPS codes: national county file
The full list of US counties and county equivalents with their FIPS codes.
View source
Office for National Statistics2026-07
Baby names for boys in England and Wales, 2025
Ranked counts for every boys' name given to three or more babies in 2025.
View source
Indiana Historical Bureau1960
Anthony Wayne 1745-1796, state historical marker 49.1960.1
The text of Indiana's 1960 roadside marker for the general, in Marion County.
View source
Texas Legislature Online2015
HCR 130, 84th Legislature, Regular Session
The resolution designating May 26 as John Wayne Day in Texas, with its passage dates.
View source
John Wayne Enterprises2019
Young Duke Morrison Becomes John Wayne Riding The Big Trail
The estate's account of the 1930 renaming and the making of The Big Trail.
View source
Additional coverage
American Battlefield Trust
Anthony Wayne
A short biography giving Wayne's rank, birth and death, and one nickname story.
View source
The History Center, Fort Wayne2014-08
Why was Anthony Wayne "Mad"?
Two competing explanations for the nickname, from the city's own historical society.
View source
Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana
1794 Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana
The fort's October 1794 dedication and how Colonel Hamtramck chose its name.
View source
WBOI2019-07
Histories At Odds During First "Anthony Wayne Day" Celebration
Fort Wayne's 2019 council resolution creating a July 16 day, and the objections to it.
View source
ICT2019-07
Celebrating (not) Mad Wayne Day
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma officials on what Anthony Wayne's campaigns did to their towns.
View source
Behind the Name
Wayne
The name's derivation from an occupational surname meaning wagon maker.
View source
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