Recorded 1884–2025 · United States
Willy was most popular in 1993, when 69 American babies were given the name — ranking #3,324 that year. In 2025 it ranked #8,448, with 27 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 4,053 people named Willy.
Willy first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1884, which makes it about 141 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 121 of the 142 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 4,053 American births named Willy between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 3,023 are estimated to be alive today.
27 American babies were named Willy in 2025, ranking #8,448 that year.
Willy is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 26 births a year, against 38 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -30% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Willy is a boy’s name — 2.9% of the 4,053 Americans given it were girls and 97.1% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 3,023 Americans named Willy are alive today — 75% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 36 years old, and half are between 21 and 58. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
A variant of Billy · English · short form of William
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Willy on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org