ninan.org

Willie

Boys' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~216,300 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,315 among boys
Births in 2025
156 596,385 since 1880
Typical age
68 years, median

Willie popularity over time

Willie rank by birth year, 1880–2025Willie ranked #34 in 1880 and #1,315 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #11, in 1910.#10#100#1,000#1,315best #11 in 191018901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Willie in 1925 than in any other year — 11,071 of them. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. Willie has spent 89 years inside the national top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #1,315 with 156 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 49%. Year on year the rank improved by 49.

Babies named Willie per yearPeaks at 11,071 births in 1925.11,071 in 1925018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Willie?

About 216,300 people named Willie are alive in the United States today. That is out of 596,385 recorded births since 1880. The split is about 32,000 women and 184,300 men.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Willie?

The typical living Willie is 68 years old. The 1950s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Willie a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Willie

Ages of living people named WillieHalf of living Willies are older than 68 and half younger.median 68020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Willie is most common

Willie is 4.7× as common in Mississippi as it is nationally. Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama follow.

Where Willie is used more than average5 states use the name Willie more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: 2.2× the national rateSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: 2.8× the national rateLAMississippi: 4.7× the national rateMSAlabama: 2.6× the national rateALGeorgia: 2.6× the national rateGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Willie is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Mississippi 62 4.7×
Louisiana 67 2.8×
Georgia 153 2.6×
Alabama 63 2.6×
South Carolina 51 2.2×

Willie in England and Wales

ONS recorded 4 births named Willie in 2025, ranking it #4,275.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Notable people named Willie

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Willie Nelson American country musician 1933 65
Willie Mays American baseball player 1931–2024 40
Willie Garson American actor 1964–2021 33
Willie Aames American actor, film and television director 1960 24
Willie Davenport American athletics competitor 1943–2002 22
Willie Steele American long jumper 1923–1989 20
Willie Banks Triple Jumper, Coach, USATF Board of Directors 1956 19
Willie Green American basketball player 1981 19
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,894 in 1899 to 3,464 in 1900 — 1.8 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Willie

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/willie.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).