Willie
A diminutive form of William, a masculine German name meaning "resolute protector".
Name Census estimates that about 219,365 living Americans carry the first name Willie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Willie today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Willie births was 1925 (11,071 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Willie. 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
- • The typical person named Willie is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Willies were born before 1970.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Willie have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
219K
~ 1 in 1,562 Americans
Peak year
1925
11,071 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,375
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Willie
Willie is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 596,221 total registrations, 450,033 (75.5%) were male and 146,188 (24.5%) were female.
Willie as a male name
- Ranked #1,375 in 2024
- 137 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1947 (7,995 births)
Willie as a female name
- Ranked #15,100 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1919 (4,051 births)
Popularity
Willie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Willie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 105,807 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
Willie 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 Willie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 5,906 | 3,397 | 9,303 |
| 1890s | 9,849 | 7,109 | 16,958 |
| 1900s | 17,746 | 12,357 | 30,103 |
| 1910s | 47,690 | 28,179 | 75,869 |
| 1920s | 67,993 | 37,814 | 105,807 |
| 1930s | 62,467 | 23,873 | 86,340 |
| 1940s | 72,419 | 18,098 | 90,517 |
| 1950s | 66,461 | 10,059 | 76,520 |
| 1960s | 39,811 | 3,631 | 43,442 |
| 1970s | 23,967 | 1,021 | 24,988 |
| 1980s | 16,892 | 458 | 17,350 |
| 1990s | 9,715 | 132 | 9,847 |
| 2000s | 5,155 | 18 | 5,173 |
| 2010s | 3,129 | 20 | 3,149 |
| 2020s | 833 | 22 | 855 |
Geography
Where Willies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Willie, while Wyoming, Rhode Island, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10,903 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Willie
Willie is a diminutive form of the name William, which has its roots in the Germanic languages. The name William is derived from the Old Germanic name Willahelm, which is a compound of two words: "wil" meaning "will" or "desire," and "helm" meaning "helmet" or "protection." Essentially, the name William conveys the meaning of "resolute protector."
The name Willie gained popularity as a nickname for William during the Middle Ages in England. It was a common practice at the time to create diminutive forms of names, often by adding a suffix like "-ie" or "-y" to the original name. This practice was particularly prevalent among the lower classes and in rural areas.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Willie can be found in the Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 14th century. In the tale "The Reeve's Tale," one of the characters is referred to as "Willy."
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Willie. One of the most famous was Willie Nelson, the legendary American singer-songwriter and actor, born in 1933. His contributions to the country music genre and his iconic status as a cultural figure have made him a household name.
Another well-known Willie was Willie Mays, the Baseball Hall of Famer who played for the New York/San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets from 1951 to 1973. Widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Mays was born in 1931 and was known for his exceptional skills on the field and his charismatic personality.
In the literary world, Willie Loman was the protagonist of Arthur Miller's iconic play "Death of a Salesman," first performed in 1949. The character's name has become synonymous with the struggles and disillusionment faced by the working class in America.
Willie Sutton, born in 1901, was a notorious American bank robber known for his clever escapes and his famous quote, "Why did you rob banks? Because that's where the money is." His criminal exploits and daring heists made him a legendary figure in the annals of crime history.
Lastly, Willie Shoemaker was a celebrated American jockey who rode from 1949 to 1990. Born in 1931, he was known for his exceptional horsemanship and his record-breaking achievements, including winning the Kentucky Derby four times and accumulating over 8,800 victories during his career.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Willie
People
Willie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Willie 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
Willie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Willie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 219,365 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Willie 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 1,562 US residents.
Is Willie a common name?
We classify Willie as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 596,221 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Willie most popular?
The single biggest year for Willie was 1925, when 11,071 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Willie is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Willie a male name?
Yes, 75.5% of people registered as Willie 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.
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.