Willa
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Willa
Willa has become increasingly fashionable, with its combination of Willa (born Wilella) Cather-like pioneer strength and the graceful beauty of the willow tree.
Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas are the latest celebrities to welcome a daughter named Willa. Other stars who used this name include actress Keri Russell, who named her daughter Willa Lou and the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who used Willa for the youngest of his three children. David Mamet and Brian De Palma also have daughters named Willa, plus it's the middle name of Meryl Streep's actress daughter Mary (called Mamie.) Young Willa characters have appears on Six Feet Under and True Blood.
Willa originated as a short form of Wilhelmina. After a half-century hiatus, it reentered the U.S. Top 1000 in 2010 and soared to the Top 500, for the first time since 1949, in 2015. Willa might also work as an honor name for an ancestral William.
Willa is also given to boys.
Pronounced WIL-uh.
As of October 2026, Willa ranked #422 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #274 in 1932, Nameberry popularity #85.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #551 | 562 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #481 | 675 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #461 | 689 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #453 | 699 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #383 | 813 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #356 | 889 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #351 | 886 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #350 | 887 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #396 | 791 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #428 | 721 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #423 | 729 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #422 | 742 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Willa for girls
Similar names
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Willa on lists
Famous Willas
- Willa of TuscanyGirl
Queen consort of Berengar II of Italy
- Wilella Sibert 'Willa' CatherGirl
American novelist
- Willa Joanna Chance HollandGirl
American actress; stepdaughter of director Brian De Palma
- Willa Ford (born Amanda Lee Williford)Girl
American singer
- Willa Beatrice BrownGirl
American aviatrix
- Willa McCord Blake EslickGirl
U.S. Congresswoman from Tennessee
- Willa FitzgeraldGirl
American actress
- Willa HollandGirl
American actress
- Willa TaylorGirl
American actress
- Willa ShalitGirl
American entrepreneur; daughter of TV personality Gene Shalit
- Willa MametGirl
daughter of playwright David Mamet and actress Lindsay Crouse; sister of actress Zosia Mamet
- Willa Baker (b. 1993)Girl
daughter of actors Dylan and Becky Ann Baker
- Willa Hoffman (b. 2008)Girl
daughter of actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman
- Willa Sun Pressnall (b. 2009)Girl
daughter of musicians Derek and Jamie Pressnall of Tilly and the Wall
- Willa Lou Deary (b. 2011)Girl
daughter of actress Keri Russell
- Willa Jean Batson (b. 2013)Girl
daughter of singer Ferraby Lionheart and Dawn Batson
- Willa Getzlaf (b. 2014)Girl
daughter of ice hockey player Ryan Getzlaf
- Willa Ashford (b. 2015)Girl
daughter of actor Matthew Ashford
- Willa Gray Akins (b. 2017)Girl
daughter of singer Thomas Rhett and Laura Akins
- Willa Jonas (b. 2020)Girl
daughter of Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas
Willa in pop culture
- Willa BurrellGirl
baby vampire on TV's "True Blood"
- Willa Jean KempGirl
character in the Ramona Quimby novels by Beverly Cleary
- Willa JacksonGirl
main character in "The Peach Keeper" by Sarah Addison Allen
- Isabella "Willa" AngeloGirl
character in Ridley Pearson's "Kingdom Keepers"
- Willa MondayGirl
character on TV's "The Finder"
- "Willa's Wild LifeGirl
" animated TV series
- Willa ThirdmanGirl
character in "Friends and Relations" (1931) by Elizabeth Bowen
- WillaGirl
called a "cute name" by Hank Hill of TV's "King of the Hill'
- WillaGirl
minor character in George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series
- Willa Fisher ChenowithGirl
daughter of Nate & Brenda on TV's "Six Feet Under"
- Willa PennGirl
younger sister of Beverly Penn in book/film "Winter's Tale"
- Willa McPhersonGirl
character on TV's "Dirt"
- Willa GivensGirl
Raylan's daughter on TV show "Justified"
- Willa WarrenGirl
character on TV's "The Family"
- Willafred (Willa) HavishamGirl
main character of "The Wedding Planner's Daughter"
- Willa EarpGirl
character on TV's "Wynonna Earp"
- Willa ForsytheGirl
character in "Shadows over England" romance series