Willy

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Billy in KR South Korea.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 16 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Willy is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name164K records spelled Willy15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Netherlands, Venezuela, Philippines

  Languages: English, Dutch, Western Frisian

  Also written Wîllÿ, Wïllÿ, Wîlly, Wílly, Wīllÿ

• French given name140K records spelled Willy17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Belgium, Philippines, United States

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Wïllÿ, Wïlly, Wìllÿ, Wîllÿ, Wîlly

• German given name57K records spelled Willy7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Germany, United States, Switzerland, Netherlands

  Also written Wiĺĺy, Wīļlý, Wïlly

• Indonesian given name27K records spelled Willy3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Willy

• Norwegian Bokmål given name19K records spelled Willy7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, Denmark, United States, Sweden

  Languages: Norwegian Bokmål, Danish, Norwegian

  Also written Wîlly, Wïllÿ

• Polish given name4.6K records spelled Willy5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Peru, Poland, Netherlands

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Slovak

  Also written Wïĺlý, Wìllÿ

• a separate given name3.0K records spelled Willy13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, United States, Peru, Algeria

  Also written Wïllÿ, Wîllÿ, Wïlly, Wīllÿ, Wįlly

67 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Willy is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, a diminutive of the male given names Wilhelm or Wilfried, also diminutive of other Germanic compound names beginning with Wil-

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, Willing; favourable; ready; eager.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In German, Kurzform mit Kosesuffix -īn zu Wilhelm; 162 Belege.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 6: Familiennamen aus Rufnamen

• In Swedish, Willy är ursprungligen en smekform till → William (→ Vilhelm). Willy förekom i äldre tid även som kvinnonamn i Sverige, då som en smekform till → Vilhelmina. En känd fiktiv namnbärare är Willy Wonka i Roald Dahls barnbok Kalle och chokladfabriken (1964, filmatiserad 1971 och 2005).

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In German, männl. Vom., Schreibvariante von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 121 years between 1884–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Willy Hessb. 1859DEGerman violinist (1859-1939)
• Willy Hameisterb. 1889DEGerman cinematographer (1889–1938)
• Willy Brandb. 1913DEGerman politician (SPD), chancellor of West Germany (1969–1974) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
• Fernande Fazzib. 1927BEnot in their usual nameBelgian politician (1927–2011)
• Willy Kurantb. 1934BEBelgian cinematographer (1934–2021)
• Leif G. W. Perssonb. 1945SEnot in their usual nameSwedish criminologist and writer
• William Russellb. 1947GBnot in their usual nameBritish dramatist, lyricist and composer
• Willy van de Kerkhofb. 1951NLDutch association football player
• Willy Sagnolb. 1977FRFrench football manager (born 1977)
• Willy Caballerob. 1981ARArgentine association football player

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,027 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Willy?

We estimate roughly 210 thousand people bear Willy (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Willy have the most bearers?

We estimate about 171 thousand people bear Willy in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled willy.

Where is Willy most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Willy is densest in Finland — about 1 in 969 people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Willy compared with other names?

In Bolivia, Willy is the 31st most common given name of 14,901 given names recorded there.

Is Willy a male or female name?

Willy is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Willy mean?

Recorded meaning: Pet form of ) William.