Willard
Willard was the 2760th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 47 babies. Its best year was 1915, when it ranked 58th with 2,889 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 3 places. More babies were named Willard in the 1920s than in any other decade.
Meaning "strong will" · Germanic, Old English
Say it WIL-erd /ˈwɪlərd/
- Rank in 2025
- #2,760 boys, up 44 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 47boys
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19152,889 babies
- Total since 1880
- 78,542babies recorded
What does the name Willard mean?
Willard is an English surname from a Germanic personal name made of wil, "will, desire", and hard (Old English heard), "hard, strong, brave", so roughly "resolute". DMNES records the name in medieval France with the same elements. As a first name it is chiefly American, used partly as a revived old name and partly as a surname given in honor of someone. It was most common in the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
willo (Old High German, “will, desire”)hart (Old High German, “hard, strong”)
How sure is this? Well established.
See also: Germanic names, names that mean strength.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Willard', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Willard', DMNES (Durham University)
Nicknames for Willard
The usual nicknames for Willard are Will. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 boys named Willard in the last five years, 439 were named Will, against 710 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Boys, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will · also for William, Wilbur, Wilbert | Traditional | #1,195 | 886 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are boys given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Willards go by each one.
Willard popularity since 1880
A few girls are given the name too: 884 since 1898.
| Year | Rank (boys) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,760 | 47 |
| 2020 | #2,804 | 44 |
| 2010 | #2,553 | 49 |
| 2000 | #1,814 | 60 |
| 1990 | #1,134 | 91 |
| 1980 | #679 | 164 |
| 1970 | #435 | 350 |
| 1960 | #333 | 543 |
| 1950 | #219 | 841 |
| 1940 | #151 | 1,140 |
| 1930 | #117 | 1,537 |
| 1920 | #88 | 2,089 |
| 1910 | #121 | 265 |
| 1900 | #132 | 172 |
| 1890 | #160 | 89 |
| 1880 | #158 | 88 |
How popular is Willard, counting every spelling?
Willard has no other common spelling that sounds the same.
How many kids will share the name Willard?
47 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Willard (0.01 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Willard 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 179 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Willard.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Willard?
About 19,100 people born in the US named Willard are alive today, with a median age of 69; half are between 55 and 79. That makes Willard a name most people associate with older generations.
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.
Willard by state
How common Willard was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. In 49 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 Willard: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Willard, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Willard · Sibling names for Willard
Questions about the name Willard
What does Willard mean?
Willard means “"strong will"” (Germanic, Old English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Willard?
Willard was the 2760th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 47 babies. Its best year was 1915, when it ranked 58th with 2,889 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 3 places. More babies were named Willard in the 1920s than in any other decade.
Is Willard a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Willard in the US.
Where is Willard most popular?
In 2021–2025, Willard was most common in Iowa (0.07 per 1,000 boys), followed by Utah and Utah.