Willean
A combination of the feminine name "Wilhelmina" and the masculine name "William".
Name Census estimates that about 94 living Americans carry the first name Willean. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Willean today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Willean births was 1950 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Willean. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Willean is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Willeans were born before 1957.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Willean. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
94
~ 1 in 3,646,323 Americans
Peak year
1950
15 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1963 SSA rank
#7,641
Tracked since 1919
Census
Willean in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 142 people with the first name Willean, which placed it at #46,696 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#46,696
National first-name rank
People counted
142
142 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Willean
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Willean is Black at 78.9%. The next largest groups are White (12.7%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Willean described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Willean at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.9% · 112
- White12.7% · 18
- Two or more races4.2% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Willean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Willean from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 83 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Willean by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Willean during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Willeans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Willean
The name Willean has its origins in the Old English language, originating in the early medieval period around the 5th to 11th centuries. It is derived from the combination of the Old English elements "wil" meaning desire or will, and "lean" meaning reward or gift. Thus, the name Willean essentially translates to "desired reward" or "coveted gift."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Willean can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals documenting the history of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. The name appears in an entry from the year 757 AD, referring to a nobleman named Willean of Mercia.
In the 9th century, a monk named Willean was known for his work in transcribing and preserving ancient manuscripts at the monastery of Lindisfarne, located on the northeast coast of England. His efforts played a crucial role in preserving valuable historical and literary works from that era.
During the Norman Conquest of England in the 11th century, a knight named Willean de Beaumont fought alongside William the Conqueror and was later rewarded with lands in Warwickshire for his loyalty and bravery. This historical figure is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and resources in England commissioned by William the Conqueror.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Willean de Courcy was a prominent Anglo-Norman nobleman and military commander. He played a significant role in the Norman invasion of Ireland and was granted extensive lands in Ulster for his contributions.
Another historical figure bearing the name Willean was a 14th-century English poet and author, known for his work titled "The Canterbury Tales of Willean." Though little is known about his life, his literary work provides valuable insights into the language and culture of that time period.
While the name Willean was more commonly used in medieval times, it has continued to be bestowed upon individuals throughout history, albeit less frequently. Some notable bearers of the name include Willean Shakespere (1564-1616), a distant relative of the renowned playwright William Shakespeare, and Willean Wordsworth (1770-1850), an English Romantic poet celebrated for his lyrical works.
People
Willean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Willean as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Willean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Willean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 94 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Willean going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,646,323 US residents.
Is Willean a common name?
We classify Willean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 259 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Willean most popular?
The single biggest year for Willean was 1950, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Willean is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Willean in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 142 people with the name Willean, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,696 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Willean in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Willean?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Willean leans strongly female. 136 people counted with this name were female (96.5%), compared with 5 male bearers (3.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Willean?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Willean is Black at 78.9%. The next largest groups are White (12.7%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Willean most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Willean in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (112 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Willean in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Willean a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Willean in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Willean still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Willean in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Willean can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Willean?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.