Willie Mays
There are approximately 29 people named Willie Mays living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 11,819,115 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Willie with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Mays. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
29
1 in 11,819,115
Named Willie
219K
Alive today
Named Mays
45K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 219K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Unisex
Peak year: 1925
Average age: 66
Top Census group: Black or African American (79.9%)
Estimated bearers: 45K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #875
Per 100K: 13.07
Top ancestry: White (52.3%)
First name trend
Willie: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Willie. The peak year was 1925 with 11,071 births. The average person named Willie today is 66 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Willie
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Willie, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is Black or African American at 79.9%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Willie described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Willie at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- Black or African American79.9% · 124,757
- White13.4% · 20,889
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 4,603
- Two or more races2.4% · 3,717
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1,292
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 892
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Mays surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Mays, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 52.3%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Mays described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Mays at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White52.3% · 20,434
- Black or African American38.4% · 14,996
- Two or more races5.1% · 2,001
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 1,226
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 231
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 185
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Willie has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0640% of the US population, based on 219,365 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Willie right now.
The surname Mays appears at a rate of 13.07 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0131%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 29 people with the full name Willie Mays. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Willie
Related
Other people with the surname Mays
FAQ
Willie Mays: questions and answers
How many people are named Willie Mays?
We estimate approximately 29 people in the United States share the full name Willie Mays. That works out to about 1 in 11,819,115 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0640%) with the surname frequency (13.07 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Willie Mays?
We classify Willie Mays as "Very Rare". About 1 in 11,819,115 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Willie a male or female name?
Willie is predominantly unisex. Out of 596,221 total SSA registrations, 75.5% were male and 24.5% were female. See the full Willie profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people have the full name Willie Mays?
Want to know how many people are called Willie Mays? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.