How Many People Are Named Will?
An estimated 20,888 people in the United States have the first name Will. It is predominantly male (98.6%). The average bearer is 40 years old, and Will peaked in popularity in 1888 with 712 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Will as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Will paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Will is overwhelmingly male, 658 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
20,888
About 1 in 16,409 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
98.6% confidence
Average Age
40
years old
Peak Year
1888
712 births
Total Registered
46,439
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Will
Will is predominantly male (98.6%), though 658 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Will as a male name
Ranked #1,283 in 2024
153 male births in 2024
Peak: 1888 (707 births)
Will as a female name
Ranked #11,432 in 1978
5 female births in 1978
Peak: 1922 (24 births)
Will: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Will span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1880s, when 6,246 babies were registered. Will has declined significantly from its peak in the 1880s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Will by Decade
How has Will tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 6,246 | 6,196 | 50 | |
| 1890s | 5,243 | 5,210 | 33 | |
| 1900s | 3,316 | 3,246 | 70 | |
| 1910s | 3,320 | 3,162 | 158 | |
| 1920s | 3,593 | 3,423 | 170 | |
| 1930s | 2,506 | 2,402 | 104 | |
| 1940s | 2,203 | 2,162 | 41 | |
| 1950s | 2,025 | 1,998 | 27 | |
| 1960s | 2,101 | 2,101 | 0 | |
| 1970s | 2,237 | 2,232 | 5 | |
| 1980s | 2,349 | 2,349 | 0 | |
| 1990s | 2,927 | 2,927 | 0 | |
| 2000s | 4,446 | 4,446 | 0 | |
| 2010s | 2,978 | 2,978 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 949 | 949 | 0 | |
Will by State
Birth registrations for Will span all 44 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, Mississippi, Alabama. The lowest are in Vermont, Nevada, Maine. On average, about 597 Wills were registered per state.
Will + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Will as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Will
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
Will: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Will?
We estimate approximately 20,888 people named Will are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 16,409 Americans share this first name.
Is Will a common name?
Will is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 46,439 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Will most popular?
Will reached peak popularity in 1888, when 712 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Will is approximately 40 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Will a male name?
Will is predominantly male. 98.6% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Will Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Will Smith, Will Johnson, Will Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
Search for a full name combination
How Many of Me