# Wills (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/wills/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as a patronymic, meaning “son/daughter of Will”.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 28,219 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,244 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 10,941 people |
| Change since 2000 | +0.7% (28,036 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /wɪlz/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | Willes |

## Etymology

From Will + -s (patronymic suffix).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Wills in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 76% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 18% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Wills in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

## People named Wills

- Helen Wills, American tennis player (1905–1998)
- Chill Wills, American actor (1902–1978)
- Bob Wills, American musician (1905–1975)
- Beverly Wills, actress (1933-1963)
- Mary Wills, American costume designer (1914-1997)
- Tom Wills, Australian sportsman (1835–1880)
- Anneke Wills, British actress
- Rick Wills, British bassist
- Garry Wills, American author, political philosopher and historian (born 1934)
- Maury Wills, American baseball player and manager (1932–2022)
- Alan Wills, British archer
- Mark Wills, American country music artist

and 3 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Wells, Willis, Walls, Wiles, Wallis, Wilsey, Welles, Willsey, Wilks, Wilk, Wallace, Welch.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.