Willard

Where Willard comes from

From Old English wil (“will”) + heard (“brave, strong”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Willard
  • Old English
  • 2 syllables
Willard through the years
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #154 among boys, with 88 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1908
    Willard Libby born
    American physical chemist
  3. 1915
    Peak, #58
    2,889 babies named Willard, the most in any year.
  4. 1924
    Willard Boyle born
    Canadian physicist and inventor
  5. 1931
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #124.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Old English of mostly American usage. Partly transferred back from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Willard Libby · American physical chemist, 1908–1980
  • Willard Boyle · Canadian physicist and inventor, 1924–2011
  • Willard Van Orman Quine · American philosopher and logician, 1908–2000
  • Willard Scott · American weather presenter and television personality, 1934–2021
  • Willard Metcalf · American artist, 1858–1925

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.