Head to head · Girls' names
Opal vs Willa
#423 vs #422 in 2025
Willa is a whisker ahead (#422 vs #423 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Willa is stepping back from its peak, Opal is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Opal has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Willa leads 3 measures of 6; Opal leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Opal #438, Willa #441 — Opal higher
- 1890s: Opal #220, Willa #385 — Opal higher
- 1900s: Opal #103, Willa #356 — Opal higher
- 1910s: Opal #90, Willa #335 — Opal higher
- 1920s: Opal #124, Willa #302 — Opal higher
- 1930s: Opal #212, Willa #296 — Opal higher
- 1940s: Opal #383, Willa #403 — Opal higher
- 1950s: Opal #738, Willa #648 — Willa higher
- 1960s: Opal #1165, Willa #1210 — Opal higher
- 1970s: Opal #1480, Willa #2486 — Opal higher
- 1980s: Opal #2080, Willa #3200 — Opal higher
- 1990s: Opal #3703, Willa #3078 — Willa higher
- 2000s: Opal #3059, Willa #1759 — Willa higher
- 2010s: Opal #1373, Willa #603 — Willa higher
- 2020s: Opal #512, Willa #395 — Willa higher
Opal stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Willa has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Opal | Willa |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #438 | #441 |
| 1890s | #220 | #385 |
| 1900s | #103 | #356 |
| 1910s | #90 | #335 |
| 1920s | #124 | #302 |
| 1930s | #212 | #296 |
| 1940s | #383 | #403 |
| 1950s | #738 | #648 |
| 1960s | #1165 | #1210 |
| 1970s | #1480 | #2486 |
| 1980s | #2080 | #3200 |
| 1990s | #3703 | #3078 |
| 2000s | #3059 | #1759 |
| 2010s | #1373 | #603 |
| 2020s | #512 | #395 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Opal
the gemstone opal
The name is the stone's, and the stone's own name is disputed. One account traces it through Latin opalus from a Sanskrit word for a stone or a jewel; another derives it from a Greek word about seeing. The two are not compatible and neither has been settled.
upala → opalus → Opal
How it traveled
An opal is not a crystal. It is silica that never organized itself into one — hardened jelly, in effect, holding as much as a fifth of its weight in water, which is why an opal can craze and crack if it dries out.
Willa
From the Germanic wil- 'will, desire'; through Wilhelmina, 'resolute protection'
Willa reaches English by two roads that both lead to the same Germanic root: as a short form of Wilhelmina (wil- 'will' plus helm 'helmet, protection') and as a feminine counterpart to William. Old English also used willa as a name element meaning 'will, desire'.
Willahelm → Wilhelm → Wilhelmina → Willa
How it traveled
The root is old Germanic: wil-, 'will' or 'desire', one half of the compound Willahelm that became Wilhelm in German and William in England after 1066. Feminine forms followed the masculine everywhere the name traveled — Wilhelmina in German and Dutch, Guillermina in Spanish — and Willa emerged as the clipped, speakable end of that line.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Opal
OH-pul
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The second syllable is reduced almost to nothing, which is why it is sometimes written with an e or an a in older records.
- Opie — The affectionate form, built from the front.
- Pal — The back of the name, which is also an ordinary English word.
Willa
WIL-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first, rhyming with 'filler'. Occasionally heard as WEE-la by speakers of languages where i takes the long value, but the English pronunciation is settled.
- Will — Informal; also stands alone as a given name, more often for boys.
- Willie — Informal; used across both sexes historically and long established as a standalone name in the American South.
- Wills — Casual family use, chiefly a spoken form rather than a written one.
- Billie — An older-style pet form drawn from the same William family; independently a given name of its own.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Opal if you want…
- a name on the way upup 225 places on the charts in five years
Choose Willa if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsWilla is stepping back from its peak
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Will, Willie and Wills
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Opal
Strengths
- It names a real thing with a real and interesting physical story behind it.
- Two syllables with front stress is the plainest and most durable shape English has.
- Nobody needs to be taught either the spelling or the pronunciation.
To consider
- It is coming back into use, so a classroom may hold more than one.
- The old superstition about opals being unlucky is still repeated by some people.
- It was recorded for sons as well in its earliest decades, though almost never now.
Willa
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and spelled the way it sounds — most people get it right the first time in writing.
To consider
- It sits one sound away from Willow, a much more common name right now, and the two get confused constantly in speech and on rosters. Expect to repeat it.
- Wilma and Willa are also easily swapped by ear, particularly over the phone.
- Its widest use was generations ago, so most people currently carrying it are well into adulthood — some listeners will place it as an older name rather than a new one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Opal and Willa in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Opal and Willa?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- Names with only one spelling
- Gemstone names: small treasures
- all guides
Where Opal and Willa each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Opal or Willa — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Opal or Willa?
- Willa, in 2025: Willa ranked #422 with 742 babies; Opal ranked #423 with 740 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Opal or Willa?
- Opal. Over the last five years Opal moved up 225 places; Willa moved down 73 places.
- Which is the older name, Opal or Willa?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Opal and Willa?
- About 15,000 people named Opal are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 19,000 people named Willa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Opals or Willas in the classroom?
- Opal will almost certainly be the only one in school. Willa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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