How rare is the name Willy?

8,097 people in the United States have the first name Willy, about 1 in 37,302. It ranks #2,853 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

WILLY

#2,853

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,097
About
1 in 37,302
This common or more
81%
Who bears it

Of the 8,097 people named Willy, 36.6% reported their origin as Hispanic or Latino, 28.3% as Black and 22.1% as White. 95.6% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Willy peaked in 1993, when 69 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18842025
Peak year
1993
Births that year
69
In 2025*
27 ▼61%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 4,053 babies have been given the name since 1884. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Willy by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #2,589. The largest share of babies named Willy, 19%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#3,1215
1890s#3,6367
1900s#3,56121
1910s#3,491131
1920s#3,280220
1930s#2,681255
1940s#2,589325
1950s#2,991336
1960s#2,846425
1970s#3,476385
1980s#4,065383
1990s#4,078535
2000s#5,351503
2010s#7,167352
2020s#8,230170
Before 19010.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–278.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4512.3%
Baby boom 1946–6417.6%
Generation X 1965–8014.6%
Millennials 1981–9618.4%
Generation Z 1997–1219%
2013 and later9.7%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Willy is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Willy has been most common in California (4.4×), New York (3.5×), and Florida (2.1×), and least common in Texas (2×).

1,192 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Willy, most common first.

Also a last name

As a last name, Willy ranks #24,280 of 156,621, with 1,075 people. See Willy as a last name

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