Boys' name · peaked in 1880
Willis name popularity since 1925
35,217 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Willis (1.4% girls, 98.6% boys). Half of them were born in 1945 or earlier, so the typical Willis is about 81 years old in 2026. Willis peaked in 1880 as the #86 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 35,217
- Named Willis, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1880
- #86 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,567 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 98.6% boys
- 507 girls · 34,710 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 2.73× its national share
Peak year is the year Willis 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.
Willis births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1926. Measured as a share of all babies, Willis peaked earlier, in 1880.
- Steepest fall: Between 1944 and 1949, Willis's share of baby boys fell by 41%, from 1 in 2,190 to 1 in 3,700.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Willis's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Willis.
Decade by decade
Babies named Willis 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 | 124 | 5,604 | – |
| 1930s | 181 | 8,191 | #173 |
| 1940s | 100 | 6,161 | #231 |
| 1950s | 75 | 4,586 | #343 |
| 1960s | 22 | 3,058 | #449 |
| 1970s | 0 | 2,213 | #567 |
| 1980s | 5 | 1,923 | #643 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,232 | #1,042 |
| 2000s | 0 | 752 | #1,941 |
| 2010s | 0 | 660 | #1,979 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 330 | #2,567 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
41.2% of babies named Willis from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Willis is most popular
The index compares Willis'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 Willis.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 2.73× | 1,017 |
| Kentucky | 2.59× | 1,334 |
| West Virginia | 2.58× | 698 |
| Arkansas | 2.48× | 784 |
| Louisiana | 2.32× | 1,277 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Willis's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Willis.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Willis (1880).
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