NameCensus.
Very Rare

Willie Mays

There are approximately 30 people named Willie Mays living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 11,425,145 Americans.

This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Willie with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Mays. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.

Expected bearers

30

1 in 11,425,145

Named Willie

219K

Alive today

Named Mays

47K

Alive today

US population

343M

Denominator

The first name Willie

Estimated living: 219K

Rarity: Common

Gender: Unisex

Peak year: 1925

Average age: 66

The surname Mays

Estimated bearers: 47K

Rarity: Uncommon

Census rank: #854

Per 100K: 13.70

Top ancestry: White (54.8%)

First name trend

Willie: popularity over time

Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Willie. The peak year was 1925 with 11,071 births. The average person named Willie today is 66 years old.

Babies born per year

MaleFemale
03K6K8K11K18801900192019401960198020002020

Ethnicity

Ancestry of the Mays surname

Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Mays, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 54.8%.

  • White54.8%
  • Black or African American39.7%
  • Two or more races2.7%
  • Hispanic or Latino2.0%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native0.6%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander0.4%

Methodology

How we calculated this

The first name Willie has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0640% of the US population, based on 219,365 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).

The surname Mays appears at a rate of 13.70 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0137%.

Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 30 people with the full name Willie Mays. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.

Read the full methodology.

Related

Other people named Willie

Related

Other people with the surname Mays

FAQ

Willie Mays: questions and answers

How many people are named Willie Mays?

We estimate approximately 30 people in the United States share the full name Willie Mays. That works out to about 1 in 11,425,145 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0640%) with the surname frequency (13.70 per 100K) against the current US population.

How rare is the name Willie Mays?

We classify Willie Mays as "Very Rare". About 1 in 11,425,145 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.

Is Willie a male or female name?

Willie is predominantly unisex. Out of 596,221 total SSA registrations, 75.5% were male and 24.5% were female. See the full Willie profile for detailed gender data.

Where does this data come from?

First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.

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There are 30 people

with the full name

Willie Mays

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