Will - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 1 syll. wi-(l)(l), wil-l ] The boy name Will is pronounced WIHL or WahL ^KEY. Will has its origins in the Germanic language and it is used largely in English.

Will is a short form of the English Wilbur.

Will is also an English short form of the English and French William.

Will is also a short form of the English Wilfred. See also the related form, the English Willis.

Will is an all-time favorite. Currently it is still rather popular as a baby boy name, but not as much as it was in the past. In 1900, 0.371% of baby boys were named Will. It was #43 in rank then. The baby name has substantially slipped in popularity since then, and in recent times it is of only modest use. In 2007, it ranked at #558 with a usage of 0.021%. Among the family of boy names directly related to Will, the English and French William was the most commonly used. It was 41 times more frequently used than Will in 2007.

Baby names that sound like Will include the English Wil, the English Wal, the English Wally, the German Willi, the English Willie, and the English Willy.

^KEY: Pronunciation for Will: W as in "we (W.IY)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; W as in "we (W.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)"

Details of famous persons named Will:
Actor Will Ferrell, born 16 July 1967, Irvine, California.
Animator Will Vinton, born 1948, McMinnville, Oregon.
Cartoonist Will Eisner, born 6 March 1917 - 3 January 2005, Brooklyn, New York.
Humorist Will Rogers, born William Penn Adair Rogers 4 November 1879 - 15 August 1935.
Singer Will Smith, born 25 September 1968, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Popularity Trend
for Will
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Will
in 2007