Gender
Origin
- Germanic
- Son Of William
- English
- German
- Resolute protector; will meaning strong and helm meaning helmet. For centuries after the Norman conquest in 1066 large numbers of English boys were given the name William in tribute to William the Conqueror. The firstborn son of Prince Charles is named William.
Syllables
2
Themes
- Surname
Alternate Spellings and Variants of Willis
Pronunciation
wi(l)-lis
Popularity in the USA
- Boys: peak in 1924 (rank #136, 1,261 births); most recent 2025 (rank #2539, 52 births)
- Girls: peak in 1923 (rank #1428, 32 births); most recent 1989 (rank #12356, 5 births)
| Year | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 52 | – |
| 2024 | 49 | – |
| 2023 | 60 | – |
| 2022 | 44 | – |
| 2021 | 62 | – |
| 2020 | 62 | – |
| 2019 | 50 | – |
| 2018 | 55 | – |
| 2017 | 51 | – |
| 2016 | 70 | – |
Top girl names · Top boy names in the USA (2025)
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA), national baby names data (public domain). This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the SSA. Data years: 1880 to 2025. Original data
Popularity in England and Wales
- Boys: peak in 2012 (rank #1154, 23 births); most recent 2025 (rank #4209, 4 births)
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4 |
| 2024 | 6 |
| 2023 | – |
| 2022 | 5 |
| 2021 | 3 |
| 2020 | 6 |
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2018 | 12 |
| 2017 | 13 |
| 2016 | 14 |
Top girl names · Top boy names in England and Wales (2025)
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Baby names in England and Wales. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data years: 1996 to 2025. Original data · Licence
Popularity in France
- Boys: peak in 2001 (rank #1478, 13 births); most recent 2022 (rank #5010, 3 births)
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 2023 | – |
| 2022 | 3 |
| 2021 | – |
| 2020 | – |
| 2019 | – |
| 2018 | – |
| 2017 | 6 |
| 2016 | – |
| 2015 | – |
| 2014 | 4 |
Top girl names · Top boy names in France (2023)
Source: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (last updated 8 July 2024), used under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0. Changes: names are shown in title case, and spellings that differ only by accents are counted together. Data years: 1900 to 2023. Original data · Licence
Popularity in Scotland
- Boys: peak in 2016 (rank #707, 3 births)
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 2025 | – |
| 2024 | – |
| 2023 | – |
| 2022 | – |
| 2021 | – |
| 2020 | – |
| 2019 | – |
| 2018 | – |
| 2017 | – |
| 2016 | 3 |
Top girl names · Top boy names in Scotland (2025)
Source: National Records of Scotland (NRS), Babies' First Names. © Crown copyright. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data years: 1974 to 2025. Original data · Licence