About Willow
Willow is an English tree name, taken directly from the word for the tree rather than from a longer personal name. Its two syllables, WIL-oh, combine a short opening vowel with a rounded ending. The name carries both a living botanical image and a distinctive fantasy-film connection through Willow Ufgood.
The tree behind the name
The English word goes back to Old English welig. Willow is therefore part of the group of given names drawn from familiar plants, rather than a name whose meaning has to be recovered from an ancient personal-name compound.
“Willow” covers several kinds of tree. The white willow, Salix alba, offers one particular example: it has long, narrow leaves with fine silvery hairs underneath. Those pale surfaces help explain its English name. Mature white willows can reach about 25 metres, making the botanical image considerably larger than a small ornamental tree.
White willows favor wet ground, including riverbanks and places near streams. Their branches provide shelter and roosting places for birds, while their leaves feed moth caterpillars. Early catkins provide nectar and pollen for insects. The familiar association with water and wildlife is thus grounded in the tree’s habitat.
Not every willow has the same outline or foliage. Willows include several species and can hybridize. A weeping silhouette is one recognizable image, but it is not a description of every tree covered by the name.
Willow on screen
The 1988 film Willow gave the word a memorable use as a male character’s personal name. Warwick Davis plays Willow Ufgood, a farmer who discovers a baby girl and becomes responsible for protecting her. A prophecy connects the child with the downfall of the powerful Queen Bavmorda.
Willow’s attempt to return the baby to her people draws him into a journey involving companions, enemies, and magic. His growing ability in sorcery becomes part of the adventure. The story makes the name belong to an active central character whose responsibilities grow well beyond the life he originally knew.
Ron Howard directed the film, which George Lucas created and produced. It was Davis’s first leading role. This screen history gives Willow a cultural connection beyond its botanical meaning, and also provides a longstanding male example alongside its much larger recent use for American girls.
Pronunciation and American popularity
Willow is pronounced WIL-oh, with stress on the first syllable. Will could be used as a suggested shortening, although it is independently established as a short form of William. Willow itself is a tree name, and that possible nickname does not make it a form of William.
In the United States, Willow rose from 301 girls in 2000 to 1,122 in 2010. It reached #37 in 2022, its strongest ranking, and stood at #44 with 4,763 girls in 2025. The spelling also appears for boys, with 23 recorded in 2025. Its recent American profile is predominantly feminine, while the film preserves a conspicuous masculine use.
Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution
Meaning and history draw on the references below. American figures use the local Social Security Administration series for this exact spelling and sex; counts below five are omitted. Existing Wiktionary content is available under CC BY-SA. Suggested shortenings are identified in the prose.
How popular is Willow?
In 2025, Willow ranked #44 among girls in the United States, with 4,763 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1890; its largest annual count was 5,195 in 2021. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.