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BabyNames
Boy name#497 of boy names

Will

Pronounced W AH0 L (ARPABET)

  • 1 syllable
  • Peaked 1888
  • 145 years in use
  • 2 spellings
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How popular is Will?

Will is a boys' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 48,074 children — the 497th most common boys' name on record.

It has been slipping, down 47% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1888, when 707 children were given it.

Two other spellings are counted in that total — Wil and Wille — because they are pronounced identically.

02505007501,00018901920195019802010
1888Boys: 707Girls: 5

Counts on this page can include pronunciation-equivalent spellings. See exactly how the data is grouped and calculated.

Spelling variants

These spellings sound identical to Will and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.

  • Wil
  • Wille

Nicknames

Will is itself a short form of William.

Characteristics

  • 1 syllable
Phonetic detail
Pronunciations:
W AH0 L · W IH1 L
Stress pattern:
0 · 1
Syllables:
1

Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.

Names like Will

Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.

Frequently asked questions

How popular is the name Will?
Will ranks 497th among boys' names in US records, with 48,074 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 2,312.
Is Will a unisex name?
No. Will is recorded almost entirely as a boys' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
When was Will most popular?
1888, when 707 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
How else is Will spelled?
Wil, Wille. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.