Godwill
The name "Godwill" suggests a meaning related to following God's will or divine purpose.
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Godwill. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Godwill today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Godwill births was 2009 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Godwill. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Godwill with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Godwill. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
2009
6 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2021 SSA rank
#11,222
Tracked since 2009
Popularity
Godwill: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Godwill from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Godwill by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Godwill during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Godwill
The name Godwill is a compound word formed from the combination of the English words "God" and "will". Its origins can be traced back to the Christian tradition and belief system, where it likely emerged as a reflection of the desire to align one's personal will with the divine will of God.
The earliest known usage of the name Godwill dates back to the 16th century in England, where it was given to male children as a symbolic expression of their parents' faith and aspiration for them to live a life guided by God's will. During this period, the Protestant Reformation was sweeping across Europe, leading to a rise in the popularity of religiously-inspired names among Christians.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Godwill was Godwill Manfield, an English clergyman born in 1567. He served as the rector of St. Peter's Church in Cornhill, London, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
In the 17th century, the name gained further traction, particularly among Puritans in England and the American colonies. Godwill Jeffries, born in 1635 in Massachusetts Bay Colony, was a prominent figure during this time, serving as a magistrate and deputy governor of the colony.
As the name spread across different regions and cultures, variations in spelling emerged. In Germany, for instance, the name took on the form "Gottlieb," which translates to "God's love" and shares a similar underlying meaning with Godwill.
One notable bearer of the name Gottlieb was Gottlieb Daimler, the German engineer and inventor born in 1834, who is credited as one of the pioneers of the modern automobile industry. His groundbreaking work on internal combustion engines and vehicle design paved the way for the widespread adoption of motorized transportation.
Another individual of historical significance with the name Godwill was Godwill Sauerwein, a German-American artist born in 1848. He is renowned for his landscape paintings capturing the natural beauty of the American West, particularly the Rocky Mountains and Yellowstone National Park.
While the name Godwill has seen a decline in popularity in recent decades, it continues to hold a significant place in the historical record as a testament to the enduring influence of religious beliefs and values on naming traditions across cultures.
People
Godwill + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Godwill as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Godwill: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Godwill?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Godwill going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Godwill a common name?
We classify Godwill as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Godwill most popular?
The single biggest year for Godwill was 2009, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Godwill is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Godwill in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Godwill a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Godwill in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Godwill still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Godwill in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Godwill can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Godwill?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.