Boys' name · peaked in 1882
Will name popularity since 1925
26,580 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Will (1.0% girls, 99.0% boys). Half of them were born in 1982 or earlier, so the typical Will is about 44 years old in 2026. Will peaked in 1882 as the #25 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 26,580
- Named Will, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1882
- #25 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,195 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.0% boys
- 265 girls · 26,315 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 6.24× its national share
Peak year is the year Will made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Will births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 2005. Measured as a share of all babies, Will peaked earlier, in 1882.
- Steepest fall: Between 1950 and 1955, Will's share of baby boys fell by 39%, from 1 in 7,990 to 1 in 13,000.
- Fastest rise: Between 1994 and 1999, it became 1.7× more common, from 1 in 7,790 baby boys to 1 in 4,550.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Will's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Will.
Decade by decade
Babies named Will in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 88 | 1,600 | – |
| 1930s | 104 | 2,402 | #311 |
| 1940s | 41 | 2,161 | #432 |
| 1950s | 27 | 1,999 | #584 |
| 1960s | 0 | 2,100 | #547 |
| 1970s | 5 | 2,232 | #537 |
| 1980s | 0 | 2,349 | #618 |
| 1990s | 0 | 2,927 | #637 |
| 2000s | 0 | 4,446 | #494 |
| 2010s | 0 | 2,978 | #835 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 1,121 | #1,195 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
24.8% of babies named Will from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Z years (1997–2012). The full split by generation:
Where Will is most popular
The index compares Will's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Will.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 6.24× | 1,664 |
| Alabama | 3.51× | 1,364 |
| Tennessee | 2.56× | 1,187 |
| Arkansas | 2.46× | 556 |
| Louisiana | 2.18× | 861 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Will and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Will (this page) | 26,315 | 1882 |
| Wil | 1,094 | 2005 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Will's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Will.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Will (1882).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data