Willa

Where Willa comes from

Derived from Wilhelmina and recoined in the 19th century in America based on the male given names Will and William.
— Wiktionary's entry for Willa
  • Germanic
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1873
    Willa Cather born
    American writer
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #492 among girls — 12 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1932
    Peak, #273
    515 babies named Willa — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1948
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #530.
  5. 1991
    Willa Holland born
    American actress
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from the Germanic languages.
Namesakes
  • Willa Cather · American writer, 1873–1947
  • Willa Holland · American actress, born 1991
  • Willa Fitzgerald · American actress, born 1991
  • Willa Ford · American actor, model, singer, composer, dancer and musician, born 1981
  • Willa Brown · American pilot and aviation educator, 1906–1992

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.