Wil
Masculine · “resolute protector”
Wil is the shortest respectable form of the biggest name in English history, and the family it belongs to contains a genuine puzzle. William gives Will, and Will gives Bill — which makes no phonetic sense at all until you learn that medieval English liked to make pet names by swapping the first consonant for a rhyming one. That habit is why Robert gives Bob and Richard gives Dick.
How old is the name Wil?
Wil first appears in US birth records in 1953 — 72 years ago. The typical Wil alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 1,100 people named Wil are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Wil most popular?
Wil peaked in 1988, reaching #2090 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 9,918 places below that high. See the whole 1988 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Willahelm to Wil
The story of Wil
William arrived in England in 1066 attached to the man who took the country, and within two generations it was the commonest name in it — a conquest of a different kind. The short forms multiplied accordingly: Will, Wilkin, Willy, and then Bill, produced by the medieval trick of rhyming substitution that also gave English Bob and Dick and Hodge. Wil with one l is the plainest of them all, and in Dutch it is a standing name in its own right for both men and women, short for Wilhelmus or Wilhelmina. Its American record is small, steady, and mostly the story of families who wanted the short form to be the whole name.
Meaning
resolute protector
From the Germanic wil, will or desire, and helm, a helmet and by extension protection. The compound is one of the most successful ever made: it became the most-given man's name in England for six hundred years and has forms in every European language.
How the name formed
- Willahelm
- Guillaume
- William
- Will
- Wil
Related forms: Wil · Wilhelm · Guillaume · Guillermo · Liam
Pronouncing Wil
WILL
One syllable, said exactly like the common English word and exactly like the double-l spelling. The missing letter makes no sound at all.
Nicknames for Wil
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1953
- Most boys named
- 200548 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2090reached in 1988
- Change vs 2024
- −28.6%5 in 2025, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Wil in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Wil in Dutch — same name
- Wilhelm in German — related form
- Guillaume in French — related form
- Guillermo in Spanish — related form
- Liam in Irish — related form
Wils among us
people named Wil are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Wil
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Wil
- #12008
- Wil on the 2025 chart
- #754
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Wil went to 5 boys in 2025, but Will is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 175, which makes it the 754th most-given boys’ name of the year — 11,254 places above the chart.
- Will170
- Wil5
About 1 boy in 9,760 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 341,615 for Wil itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Napolean test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Wil's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Napolean climbed just as high around 1925, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Napolean's path sketches the road Wil is walking now.
Wil sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Wil beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Wil in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters and one syllable — nothing shorter is available in this family.
- William sits behind it as a formal option with no paperwork required.
- It is a standing name in Dutch for either sex, so it is not merely a clipping.
- Nobody in the English-speaking world has ever needed to be told how to say it.
- Almost everyone will write Will with two l's, and the correction is permanent.
- It is identical to a common English noun and verb, which the jokes will find.
- As a given name it reads as a nickname, and a man will be asked what it is short for.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Wil to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Wil? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Wil
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Wils are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Wil are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Wil?
- Wil is one of 2 recorded spellings. Will is the more common one — 170 births in 2025 against 5 for Wil.
- How popular is the name Wil in 2025?
- Wil ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Wil?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Wil — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Wil with classmates?
- Wil will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Wil
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garfield#12008 · Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Wil? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Wil and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle