Boys' name · peaked in 1915
Willard name popularity since 1925
48,717 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Willard (0.8% girls, 99.2% boys). Half of them were born in 1942 or earlier, so the typical Willard is about 84 years old in 2026. Willard peaked in 1915 as the #58 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 48,717
- Named Willard, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1915
- #58 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,760 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.2% boys
- 385 girls · 48,332 boys
- Most popular in
- West Virginia
- 3.80× its national share
Peak year is the year Willard 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.
Willard births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1926. Measured as a share of all babies, Willard peaked earlier, in 1915.
- Steepest fall: Between 1979 and 1984, Willard's share of baby boys fell by 43%, from 1 in 10,100 to 1 in 17,500.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Willard's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Willard.
Decade by decade
Babies named Willard 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 | 119 | 8,478 | – |
| 1930s | 144 | 12,460 | #132 |
| 1940s | 66 | 10,603 | #172 |
| 1950s | 28 | 7,032 | #257 |
| 1960s | 28 | 4,289 | #381 |
| 1970s | 0 | 2,262 | #531 |
| 1980s | 0 | 1,206 | #888 |
| 1990s | 0 | 748 | #1,299 |
| 2000s | 0 | 568 | #2,080 |
| 2010s | 0 | 440 | #2,763 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 246 | #2,760 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
46.1% of babies named Willard from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Willard is most popular
The index compares Willard'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 Willard.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 3.80× | 1,494 |
| Kentucky | 3.17× | 2,372 |
| Tennessee | 2.02× | 1,900 |
| Alabama | 1.86× | 1,472 |
| Virginia | 1.73× | 1,748 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Willard's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Willard.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Willard (1915).
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