# Willoughby (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/willoughby/  
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 | boys and girls |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “willow”, “settlement” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 314 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 223 / 91 (29% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 262, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English weliġ (“willow”) and Old Norse byr (“settlement”).

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 5 | 17,549 |
| 2010 | 6 | 16,888 |
| 2014 | 7 | 14,491 |
| 2016 | 8 | 12,820 |
| 2017 | 7 | 14,033 |
| 2018 | 5 | 17,993 |
| 2019 | 5 | 17,855 |
| 2020 | 10 | 10,211 |
| 2021 | 10 | 10,254 |
| 2022 | 6 | 15,196 |
| 2023 | 7 | 13,385 |
| 2024 | 10 | 10,224 |
| 2025 | 5 | 17,134 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1934 | 5 | 4,195 |
| 1935 | 5 | 4,140 |
| 1940 | 6 | 3,457 |
| 1941 | 7 | 3,129 |
| 1943 | 5 | 4,027 |
| 1945 | 5 | 3,771 |
| 1953 | 5 | 4,330 |
| 1958 | 6 | 3,935 |
| 2011 | 8 | 9,558 |
| 2013 | 8 | 9,618 |
| 2014 | 6 | 12,036 |
| 2015 | 6 | 12,024 |
| 2018 | 6 | 12,070 |
| 2021 | 7 | 10,735 |
| 2024 | 5 | 14,167 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4 | 4,535 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,891 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 13 | 1,688 |
| 2012 | 11 | 1,962 |
| 2013 | 11 | 1,920 |
| 2014 | 10 | 2,079 |
| 2015 | 14 | 1,673 |
| 2016 | 9 | 2,335 |
| 2017 | 17 | 1,470 |
| 2018 | 12 | 1,875 |
| 2019 | 18 | 1,369 |
| 2020 | 6 | 2,960 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,451 |
| 2022 | 12 | 1,879 |
| 2023 | 9 | 2,325 |
| 2024 | 7 | 2,921 |
| 2025 | 11 | 2,133 |

## People named Willoughby

- Willoughby Smith, British engineer (1828–1891)
- Willoughby D. Miller, American dentist (1853–1907)
- Willoughby Gray, British actor (1916–1993)

## 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.