Willow
Meaning
willow tree
The story
Willow comes directly from the tree name, ultimately from Old English welig. The tree's long, flexible branches and waterside habitat give the word a strong natural image, but the name does not need an invented symbolic translation such as graceful or resilient to have a real history. As a first name in the US, Willow is decisively modern. Its curve stays close to the floor through most of the twentieth century, begins to move in the 1990s, rises in the 2000s, climbs sharply in the 2010s, and reaches its highest point in the 2020s. That ascent places it inside the modern nature-name revival alongside trees, flowers, and seasons. Willow feels lyrical because the English word already does, while its two-syllable shape makes it easy to carry. The chart shows a living word becoming a widely used name within a single generation.
Willow in song
willow
Taylor Swift (2020)
The lead single from evermore, a hushed, slightly witchy love song that entered the Hot 100 at number one.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Willow peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
98 people · the #41,927 first name in Brazil · median age 26
Among people named Willow living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Willow
Most people given the name Willow in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Willow deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Willow truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Willow fits with your family’s names and surname.
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