Will
Will was the 1195th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 170 babies. Its best year was 1882, when it ranked 25th; the most babies were born in 1888 (707). Over the last ten years it has moved down 360 places. More babies were named Will in the 1880s than in any other decade.
Meaning short form of William; "will + helmet" · Germanic, English
Say it WIL /wɪl/
- Rank in 2025
- #1,195 boys, down 254 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 170boys
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 1888707 babies
- Total since 1880
- 46,610babies recorded
What does the name Will mean?
Will is the short form of William, and less often of other names beginning with Wil-, such as Wilfred and Willard. William is a Germanic name made of willo, "will, desire", and helm, "helmet, protection". It came to England with William the Conqueror in 1066 and soon became one of the commonest English names. DMNES records English pet forms like Wille from 1379. Will is used as a full name in its own right.
willo (Old High German, “will, desire”)helm (Old High German, “helmet, protection”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: William, Willie, Bill, Liam, Wilfred.
See also: Germanic names, names that mean protector.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Will', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'William', DMNES (Durham University)
- Wikipedia, 'Will (given name)', Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation)
Nicknames for Will
The usual nicknames for Will are Willie. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 boys named Will in the last five years, 86 were named Willie, against 124 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Boys, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willie · also for William, Wilma | Traditional | #1,322 | 766 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are boys given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Wills go by each one.
Will popularity since 1880
A few girls are given the name too: 658 since 1881.
| Year | Rank (boys) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,195 | 170 |
| 2020 | #941 | 235 |
| 2010 | #623 | 396 |
| 2000 | #510 | 447 |
| 1990 | #590 | 289 |
| 1980 | #519 | 271 |
| 1970 | #533 | 230 |
| 1960 | #530 | 225 |
| 1950 | #445 | 224 |
| 1940 | #396 | 209 |
| 1930 | #356 | 259 |
| 1920 | #294 | 368 |
| 1910 | #113 | 278 |
| 1900 | #43 | 603 |
| 1890 | #30 | 613 |
| 1880 | #27 | 588 |
How popular is Will, counting every spelling?
Will is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #1,120 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #1,195 for Will on its own. Together these spellings went to 175 boys in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will | 170 | #1,195 | 886 |
| Wil | 5 | #13,797 | 38 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Will?
170 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Will (0.05 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Will born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 49 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Will.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Will?
About 19,700 people born in the US named Will are alive today, with a median age of 31; half are between 18 and 53. That makes Will mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties. The wide spread shows a name popular in two different eras.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Will by state
How common Will was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Utah (5.2×), Minnesota (2.9×), Wisconsin (2.9×), Washington (2.4×), Illinois (1.8×). In 22 states fewer than five boys a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Will: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Will, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Will · Sibling names for Will
Will is also a nickname for William, Willard, Wilbur, Wilbert and Wilfred.
Questions about the name Will
What does Will mean?
Will means “short form of William; "will + helmet"” (Germanic, English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Will?
Will was the 1195th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 170 babies. Its best year was 1882, when it ranked 25th; the most babies were born in 1888 (707). Over the last ten years it has moved down 360 places. More babies were named Will in the 1880s than in any other decade.
Is Will a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Will in the US.
Where is Will most popular?
In 2021–2025, Will was most common in Utah (0.53 per 1,000 boys), followed by Minnesota and Wisconsin.