# Willa (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/willa/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 32,848 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 24 / 32,824 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 600, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Derived from Wilhelmina and recoined in the 19th century in America based on the male given names Will and William.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 261 | 984 |
| 2012 | 389 | 717 |
| 2013 | 406 | 697 |
| 2014 | 562 | 551 |
| 2015 | 675 | 481 |
| 2016 | 689 | 461 |
| 2017 | 699 | 454 |
| 2018 | 813 | 383 |
| 2019 | 889 | 356 |
| 2020 | 887 | 350 |
| 2021 | 887 | 351 |
| 2022 | 791 | 396 |
| 2023 | 721 | 430 |
| 2024 | 733 | 423 |
| 2025 | 742 | 422 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1929 | 7 | 3,549 |
| 1932 | 5 | 4,269 |
| 1933 | 6 | 3,635 |
| 1937 | 6 | 3,511 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 16 | 1,729 |
| 2012 | 17 | 1,720 |
| 2013 | 17 | 1,707 |
| 2014 | 28 | 1,204 |
| 2015 | 28 | 1,204 |
| 2016 | 27 | 1,241 |
| 2017 | 40 | 933 |
| 2018 | 47 | 806 |
| 2019 | 40 | 897 |
| 2020 | 35 | 969 |
| 2021 | 32 | 1,069 |
| 2022 | 41 | 857 |
| 2023 | 33 | 1,030 |
| 2024 | 57 | 670 |
| 2025 | 52 | 705 |

## People named Willa

- Willa Cather, American writer (1873–1947)
- Willa Holland, American actress
- Willa Fitzgerald, American actress (born 1991)
- Willa Ford, American actor, model, singer, composer, dancer and musician
- Willa Brown, American pilot and aviation educator (1906-1992)
- Willa of Tuscany, Countess of Ivrea (911/912–970)
- Guilla of Provence, Early medieval Frankish queen

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.