Willi

Boys' name

Diminutive of Wilhelm

Willi has been given to 144 babies in the U.S. since 1919. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1958, with 10 recorded.

Babies named Willi, 2008

1 in 655,000

Willi over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Willi: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Wilhelm

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Willi means

Willi is a diminutive of Wilhelm.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Willi is used in German.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈvɪ.li/ for Willi.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Willi → Wilhelm → Wilhelm → *Wiljahelmaz. The family’s meaning is “will + helmet”, recorded in Proto-Germanic with the source elements wiljô and helmaz.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Wilhelm and Willy.

Pronunciation and spelling

In German, Willi is pronounced /ˈvɪli/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 144 boys were recorded with the name Willi between 1919 and 2008. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1958; its best national rank was #2,811 in 1958.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Willi?

Willi had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2008, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2008: 1 in 655,000; 6 of 3,930,727 births
Among boys only: 1 in 340,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2008: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 454,097 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Willi sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2008 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 454,097 children born in 2008 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Willi. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Willis were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Willi was born before 1964 — so the typical Willi is around 61 today.

Median birth year: 1964; About 61 years old
Biggest decade: 1960s; 23.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 29.9%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 128; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1960s — 23.6% of all recorded uses (34).

Is Willi rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1958 (10)
Years since peak: 67; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 25.0% average annual change
Best rank ever: #2,811; 1958

Spellings of Willi

Willi is not the most common spelling — William is, with 78.1% against Willi's <0.01%.

William78.1%4,199,696
Willie8.4%450,188
Billy7.1%384,233
Bill3.0%160,474
Willis0.97%52,336
Will0.85%45,952
Billie0.59%31,637
Wiley0.34%18,400

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Willi around the world

Where Willi ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

France
1902–2009
#5,795
in 2009
South Australia
1949–1993
#519
in 1993

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Willi by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #2,811; 1958
Peak year: 1958; 10 that year
First recorded: 1919
Last recorded: 2008
All-time count: 144
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Willi

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Wilde Wills Wilver Wilman Wilian Wilho Wilkes Wild Willow Wilks Wilkin Wildon Wilmar Wille Willys Willet Wilbon Willson Wilgus Willim Willey Necalli Olli Wilkie

Sibling names for Willi

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Gerri Cathie Lizabeth Bonny Laureen Pamala Valorie Ginny

For a brother

Von Curtiss Russ Lonny Nicky Dwain Gerry Stan

Explore around Willi

Top names of 1958, Willi's peak year The 1950s in full Other names that peaked in 1958 Boys' names starting with W