Willard vs Wilmer
American parents have registered 78,542 Willards since 1880, against 16,722 Wilmers. But in 2025 it was Wilmer that was commoner, 94 babies to 47.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Willard Wilmer
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 146 years in which either name was published, Willard for 117 years and Wilmer for 29 years. The lead changed hands once.
Side by side
| Willard | Wilmer | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 78,542 | 16,722 |
| Most in one year | 2,924 | 473 |
| Babies in 2025 | 47 | 94 |
| Estimated living today | 20,000 | 6,300 |
| Median age today | 69 | 31 |
| Peak year | 1915 | 1920 |
| Best rank | 58th boys | 259th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 2,718th | 1,728th |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 884 / 77,658 | 743 / 15,979 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Willards alive today are over 69; half the Wilmers are over 31. That is 38 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Willard West Virginia (3.4×), Kentucky (2.9×), North Dakota (2.3×)
- Wilmer Louisiana (3.5×), Alabama (3.2×), Pennsylvania (2.9×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Willard and Wilmer.