Willis

Willis Meaning & Origin

About Willis
The surname Willis is of English origin and has multiple possible meanings. It is derived from the medieval given name William, which itself comes from the Germanic elements "wil" meaning "desire" or "will" and "helm" meaning "helmet" or "protection." As a surname, Willis can also be a patronymic form of Will, a diminutive of William, indicating "son of Will." Additionally, it may have originated as a locational surname referring to someone who lived near a willow tree or a place named Willow. Overall, the surname Willis is associated with strength, protection, and a connection to the name William or the willow tree.

🌍 Origin
📏 Surname Length
💬 Number of Syllables
🔠 Starting Letter
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Popularity

Surname Popularity by Ethnicity

The surname Willis holds a prominent position in our records, ranking within the top 500. Here's an in-depth look at its popularity and demographic spread:

  • Number of People with the name Willis: 130,152
  • Overall Popularity: 0.05%
  • Ranking: 230
  • Frequency per 100k people: 44.12

Below is the ethnic distribution of the surname Willis based on recent US Census records. This is a brief glimpse into the diverse backgrounds of people carrying this surname.

Ranking information for the surname Willis is not currently available.

Pronunciation

📇 Metaphone
ALS
🗽 NYSIIS
WA
🔊 Soundex
W0402
🎵 Syllabic Pronunciation
W IH1 L IH0 S
🌐 IPA
/ˈwɪlɪs/
🔊 Double Metaphone
('ALS', 'FLS')
🈯 Cross-Lingual Phonetic
W420

Accessibility & Communication

How to write the name Willis in Braille

Here's how to represent Willis in Braille, each pattern of raised dots corresponds to a letter in the name.

The name Willis in braille

How to sign the name Willis using Sign Language

The image below shows how you can spell Willis using American Sign Language (ASL). In sign language, each hand shape corresponds to a specific a letter of the name.

The name Willis in sign language

Numerology