Willie

“Variant of William — Will and helmet” — Germanic via Norman French origin

Boy's name · #1322 in the US (2025) · Heirloom

Willie is an heirloom: its strongest era came around 1910, when it ranked #11. It has thinned since but never left the records — about 450,000 boys since 1880, ranked #1322 today. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Around the world: about 1 in 20,000 boys in Canada (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 16 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Willies

Willie Nelson — American country musician (born 1933)
Willie Mays — American baseball player (1931–2024)
Willie Dixon — American blues musician (1915–1992)
Willie Garson — American actor (1964–2021)
Willie Colón — American musician

In stories & tradition

Groundskeeper Willie — The Simpsons
Willie Lumpkin — Fantastic Four
Willie Gillis — fictional human

What Willies become

Among 1,568 notable people named Willie:

Sports figures appear 3.3× more often than among typical names — e.g. Willie Mays, American baseball player (1931–2024).

Similar names: Billy · Harold · Wilson · Rylee · Clifford · Stanley

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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