Willamae
A feminine name derived from the English names William and Mae.
Name Census estimates that about 81 living Americans carry the first name Willamae. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Willamae today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Willamae births was 1923 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Willamae. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Willamae. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
81
~ 1 in 4,231,535 Americans
Peak year
1923
28 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,344
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Willamae: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Willamae from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 131 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Willamae 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 Willamae 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 Willamae
The name Willamae is a relatively modern English name that emerged in the late 19th century. It is a combination of the common English names William and Mae, with William being derived from the Germanic name Willahelm, meaning "will" or "desire" and "helmet" or "protection". Mae is a shortened form of the name Mary, which originated from the Hebrew name Miriam.
Willamae does not have any direct historical or literary references prior to its emergence as a given name in the late 1800s. It is believed to have been created as a unique name by combining existing names, a practice that became popular during the Victorian era.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Willamae was Willamae Burt, an American actress born in 1892. She had a brief career in silent films during the 1910s and 1920s.
Willamae Fies, born in 1905, was an American baseball player who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League during the 1940s. She played for the Peoria Redwings and the Racine Belles.
Willamae Woods, born in 1924, was an American singer and actress who performed on Broadway and in various musical productions throughout the mid-20th century. She was known for her roles in the musicals "House of Flowers" and "Kwamina".
Willamae Buckheit, born in 1931, was a Canadian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1971 to 1989, representing the constituency of Calgary Buffalo.
Willamae Moore, born in 1935, is an American writer and educator who has published several books on African-American history and culture, including "Celebrating Life: African American Women Speak Out" and "Inside Black America".
While the name Willamae was relatively uncommon throughout most of the 20th century, it experienced a brief surge in popularity in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s, likely influenced by the fame of individuals like Willamae Burt and Willamae Fies.
People
Willamae + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Willamae as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Willamae: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Willamae?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 81 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Willamae 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 4,231,535 US residents.
Is Willamae a common name?
We classify Willamae as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 406 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Willamae most popular?
The single biggest year for Willamae was 1923, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Willamae is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Willamae a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Willamae in the SSA data are female. 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.
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.