Wille
Wille was last recorded in 1979, when 5 babies were given it; 407 Americans have been recorded with it between 1907 and 1979 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Wille by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Wille mean?
Wiktionary, Swedish section
Wille is “a diminutive of the male given names William and Wilhelm”
Meaning: Wiktionary, Swedish section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Wille?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #7,047, in 1979; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
22 babies in 1929, the peak
Wille peaked in 1929, when 22 babies were given it (17 boys, #1,931 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | under 5 | 5 | #7,047 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 5 | #5,419 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 5 | #4,539 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 5 | #4,528 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 5 | #4,579 | |
| 1963 | under 5 | 5 | #4,606 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 11 | #2,666 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 6 | #4,051 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 5 | #4,582 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 8 | #3,283 |
Every recorded year (50)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | under 5 | 6 | #3,983 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 8 | #3,195 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 12 | #2,442 | |
| 1951 | under 5 | 11 | #2,491 | |
| 1950 | under 5 | 11 | #2,435 | |
| 1949 | under 5 | 13 | #2,221 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 6 | #3,657 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 5 | #4,252 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 10 | #2,529 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 6 | #3,327 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 9 | #2,627 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 6 | #3,531 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 9 | #2,650 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 11 | #2,318 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 8 | #2,860 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 6 | #3,666 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 6 | #3,766 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 9 | #2,859 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 6 | #3,987 | |
| 1929 | 5 | #5,260 | 17 | #1,931 |
| 1928 | under 5 | 7 | #3,685 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 8 | #3,439 | |
| 1926 | under 5 | 8 | #3,371 | |
| 1925 | under 5 | 12 | #2,583 | |
| 1924 | 7 | #4,420 | 6 | #4,336 |
| 1923 | under 5 | 10 | #2,936 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 5 | #4,946 | |
| 1921 | 6 | #5,084 | 7 | #3,858 |
| 1920 | under 5 | 6 | #4,270 | |
| 1919 | 5 | #5,540 | 6 | #4,153 |
| 1918 | under 5 | 6 | #4,162 | |
| 1917 | under 5 | 9 | #2,949 | |
| 1916 | 5 | #5,143 | 6 | #3,883 |
| 1915 | under 5 | 8 | #3,071 | |
| 1914 | 6 | #3,601 | 5 | #3,750 |
| 1913 | under 5 | 5 | #3,250 | |
| 1912 | 7 | #2,625 | under 5 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 5 | #1,833 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 6 | #1,436 | |
| 1907 | under 5 | 6 | #1,341 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Wille a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 407 Americans recorded as Wille, 10% are girls and 90% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Wille: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Wille, and how old are they?
An estimated 115 Americans named Wille and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (28% of everyone recorded); the median is 71 years old and half are between 64 and 78. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 884 people named Wille (161 women and girls, 723 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 145 born in the U.S. The Census count is 6.1 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Wille rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 627,607 babies since 1880, Wille is the sixth most given (<1% of them). In 2025 none of their 652 babies recorded by SSA was a Wille (SSA lists a name only with 5 or more babies of one sex).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Wille
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Wille and names like it
- Compare Wille and WillieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sWille peaked in 1929.
- Swedish namesWiktionary’s origin for Wille: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1929The year the most babies were named Wille.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Wille alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with WMost given first.