Girls' name · peaked in 2021
Willow name popularity since 1925
65,287 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Willow (99.3% girls, 0.7% boys). Half of them were born in 2019 or earlier, so the typical Willow is about 7 years old in 2026. Willow peaked in 2021 as the #39 name for girls, and it ranked #44 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 65,287
- Named Willow, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #44
- for girls in 2025 (4,763 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.3% girls
- 64,828 girls · 459 boys
- Most popular in
- Idaho
- 2.08× its national share
Peak year is the year Willow made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Willow births per year, 1925–2025
2021 was the biggest year for Willow both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1997 and 2002, Willow became 3.1× more common, from 1 in 10,300 baby girls to 1 in 3,290.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Willow's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Willow.
Decade by decade
Babies named Willow in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 141 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 208 | 0 | #2,303 |
| 1940s | 175 | 0 | #1,872 |
| 1950s | 138 | 0 | #2,470 |
| 1960s | 139 | 0 | #4,199 |
| 1970s | 502 | 5 | #1,778 |
| 1980s | 344 | 0 | #2,655 |
| 1990s | 1,217 | 43 | #1,650 |
| 2000s | 6,024 | 52 | #532 |
| 2010s | 27,072 | 164 | #111 |
| 2020–25 | 28,868 | 195 | #44 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
79.2% of babies named Willow from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Alpha years (2013–2025). The full split by generation:
Where Willow is most popular
The index compares Willow'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 Willow.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Idaho | 2.08× | 524 |
| New Hampshire | 2.06× | 411 |
| Nevada | 1.91× | 431 |
| Maine | 1.88× | 510 |
| Oregon | 1.86× | 1,106 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Willow's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Willow.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Willow (2021).
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