The Willard surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 21,352 people carried this name — #1,690 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 13,800 people counted. That is up 1% from 21,183 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Willard surname
From Old English wil (“will”) + heard (“brave, strong”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Willard» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 100 people named Willard.
6 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 20 départements, most often Pas-de-Calais.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In the Nordic population registers
31 people named Willard is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Willard in American newspapers,
1915–1916.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 824,565 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Willard,
with a public archive behind them.
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Samuel Willard 1640–1707 · writer -
Helen S. Willard d. 1980 · psychotherapist
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Simon Willard 1605–1676 · military personnel
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Jacob Willard 1650–1678
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Jonathan Willard 1678–1772
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Samuel Willard 1689–1752 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Willard.
- Wilhelm 19,913 · U.S. census
- Wilk 5,763 · U.S. census
- Wilke 8,106 · U.S. census
- Wilkinson 53,739 · U.S. census
- Will 12,575 · U.S. census
- Willaert 251 · U.S. census
- Wille 3,734 · U.S. census
- Willem 242 · U.S. census
- Willemain 106 · U.S. census
- Willeman 139 · U.S. census
- Willemin 242 · U.S. census
- Willems 2,707 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Willard is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.