# Willson (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/willson/  
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.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 9,659 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,679 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 31,965 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.5% (9,154 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈwɪlsən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Will (short form of the given name William) + -son. A less common variant of Wilson.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Willson 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) | 86% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 8.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Willson in the United States and the United Kingdom.

## People named Willson

- Augustus E. Willson, American politician (1846-1931)
- Paul Willson, American actor
- Laura Annie Willson, British engineer and suffragette (1877-1942)
- Ashe, American singer-songwriter

## Similar surnames

Wilson, Willison, Wilkins, Wilkinson, Wilkens, Wilken, Wilkin, Welcome, Wolken, Wilczynski, Wohlgemuth, Wilkening.

## 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.