Humanverse

Willow vs Wilmar

American parents have registered 65,560 Willows since 1880, against 613 Wilmars. Willow is still ahead, with 4,786 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Willow against Wilmar, 1880 to 2025 0 1.5k 3k 4.5k 6k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Willow Wilmar

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 121 years in which either name was published, Willow for 117 years and Wilmar for 4 years. The lead changed hands 4 times.

Side by side

  Willow Wilmar
Total US births 65,560613
Most in one year 5,23123
Babies in 2025 4,7867
Estimated living today 64,000260
Median age today 620
Peak year 20211919
Best rank 39th girls1,576th boys
Rank in 2025 44th9,714th
First recorded 18901912
Girls / boys 65,095 / 46516 / 597

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 Wilmars alive today are over 20; half the Willows are over 6. That is 14 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Willow and Wilmar.