Willson
Son of Will or William, a powerful protector.
Name Census estimates that about 298 living Americans carry the first name Willson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Willson today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Willson births was 2014 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Willson. 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.
People living today
298
~ 1 in 1,150,182 Americans
Peak year
2014
14 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,120
Tracked since 1914
Census
Willson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 464 people with the first name Willson, which placed it at #21,757 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#21,757
National first-name rank
People counted
464
464 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Willson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Willson is White at 33.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (22.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Willson described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Willson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.8% · 157
- Hispanic or Latino30.4% · 141
- Asian and Pacific Islander22.6% · 105
- Black or African American7.1% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.9% · 18
- Two or more races2.2% · 10
Popularity
Willson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Willson from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 100 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Willson remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Willson 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 Willson 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 Willson
The given name Willson has its origins in the Germanic language family, specifically derived from the Old English words "wil" (meaning "will" or "desire") and "sunu" (meaning "son"). This combination of "will" and "son" suggests the name's meaning as "son of determination" or "son of resolute will."
The earliest recorded instances of the name Willson can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in England, around the 7th to 11th centuries. During this time, the name was often spelled as "Wilsun" or "Willsun," reflecting the linguistic evolution and variations in spelling conventions.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Willson was Willson of Sherborne, an English Benedictine monk who lived in the late 10th century. He was renowned for his scholarly contributions and served as a teacher and librarian at the influential Sherborne Abbey.
In the 13th century, the name gained prominence with Willson of Coventry, a Franciscan friar and renowned preacher. He was known for his eloquent sermons and his efforts to promote education among the common people.
During the Renaissance period, Willson Raleigh (1554-1618) was a notable figure. He was an English writer, explorer, and courtier who played a significant role in the early colonization efforts of North America. Raleigh was also a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I and is remembered for his literary works, including "The Discovery of the Large, Rich, and Beautiful Empire of Guiana."
In the realm of art, Willson Hunt (1627-1704) was a renowned English painter and one of the founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts. He is particularly known for his portraiture and historical paintings, which captured the spirit of the English Baroque era.
Another notable figure was Willson Wilberforce (1759-1833), an English philanthropist, abolitionist, and a leading figure in the movement to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire. His tireless efforts and oratorical skills played a crucial role in the eventual abolition of slavery in the British colonies.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who carried the given name Willson, reflecting its enduring presence across various fields and time periods.
People
Willson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Willson 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
Willson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Willson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 298 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Willson 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 1,150,182 US residents.
Is Willson a common name?
We classify Willson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 360 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Willson most popular?
The single biggest year for Willson was 2014, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Willson is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Willson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 464 people with the name Willson, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,757 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Willson in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Willson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Willson leans strongly male. 452 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 8 female bearers (1.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Willson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Willson is White at 33.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (22.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Willson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Willson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.8% (157 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Willson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Willson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Willson 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 Willson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Willson 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 Willson 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.
How many people are called Willson?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.