Will

Diminutive of William

"resolute protector"

Will Origin and Meaning

The name Will is a boy's name of English origin meaning "resolute protector".

Will has definitely replaced Bill, not only as a nickname for William but as a stand-alone name as well, partly thanks to England's Prince William, also known as Wills. Currently outside the Top 1000 in the US and the UK, it wouldn't feel totally out of style.

Will maintains a nice old-fashioned, down-home charm, and with recent references such as Will Smith, Good Will Hunting, and Will and Grace, it has taken on an air of understated cool.

Most celebrities known as Will were christened William—Shakespeare, legendary humorist Rogers, cartoonist Eisner, and actor Arnett—but others were not. Will Smith was born Willard and Will Ferrell was originally John William.

A key character on Glee was Will Schuester.

Will Rank in US Top 1000

# 947 in the US

Will Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 939 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Will

• 947 US 2020
• 939 Nameberry 2025
• 137 Unique 2023
• 907 England 2019

20 Names Similar to Will

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Will.

• Lee
• Tommy
• Sam
• Barry
• Nick
• Andy
• Ben
• Johnny
• Joey
• Gabe
• Bobby
• Allen
• Nate
• Joe
• Jefferson
• Craig
• Jonathon
• Billy
• Todd
• Eddie

Famous People Named Will

• William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers American actor and comedian
• Willard Carroll "Will" Smith American actor and rapper
• John William "Will" Ferrell American actor and comedian
• William Emerson "Will" Arnett American actor
• William Rankin "Will" Patton American actor
• William Donald "Will" Grigg Northern Irish footballer
• William Robert "Will" Young English singer,songwriter
• William Nuschler "Will" Clark American baseball player
• Orville Willis "Will" Forte American actor and comedian
• Will Geer (born William Aughe Ghere) American actor
• William David "Will" Johnson Canadian soccer player
• William Jack "Will" Poulter English actor
• William Woodard "Will" Self English novelist
• Wilbur H. "Will" Jennings American songwriter
• William "Will" Champion English drummer of band Coldplay
• William Harrison "Will" Hays American politician who enacted the Hays Code
• Will Allen American NFL player
• William "Will" Sasso Candian actor and comedian
• William Ballard "Will" Hurd U.S. Congressman from Texas

The name Will in Pop Culture

• William "Will" Halstead character on TV's Chicago Med.
• Will Hunting main character in film "Good Will Hunting"
• William "Will" Truman character on TV's Will and Grace
• William "Will" Turner a main character in the Pirates of the Caribbean films
• Will Graham character on TV's Hannibal
• Will character in the Divergent trilogy
• Will Scarlet one of Robin Hood's Merry Men
• William Harold Ryan "Will" Munson character in American soap opera, As The World Turns
• Wilbur "Will" Trent character in the series by Karin Slaughter
• William Michael "Will" Schuester character on TV's "Glee"
• Will Parry character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy
• William "Will" Herondale character in the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare
• Will Solace character in the 'Heroes of Olympus' series (Rick Riordan)
• William "Will" Lawson character in the novel "Cursed" by Elise Noble
• Will Treaty main character in John Flanagan's series "Ranger's Apprentice"
• Will Brian character in "Sufficiently Remarkable"
• Will Tippin character on TV's Alias
• Will Grayson name shared by the main characters in John Green and David Levithan's Will Grayson, Will Grayson
• Will character on TV's "The Fosters"
• Will Byers a character on TV's "Stranger Things"
• Will Belmont a character on TV's "Scream"
• Will Lamontagne character on TV's "Criminal Minds"
• Will Younger character in film "How It Ends"
• Will Munson character on "X,Men"
• Wilhelmina/Wilma "Will" Vandom female Guardian of Quintessence in "W.I.T.C.H" series
• Will Mystery researcher of Fantasy lands in the Thea Stilton books
• Will Benjamin character on TV's "H2O: Just Add Water"
• Will character in the Pokémon video game series