Willa

See also: willa and willą

English

Etymology

Derived from Wilhelmina and recoined in the 19th century in America based on the male given names Will and William.

Proper noun

Willa

1. A female given name from the Germanic languages.
   • 1974, Bernice Slote, Virginia Faulkner, The Art of Willa Cather, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, →ISBN, page 198:

     Even though Miss Cather's father clearly wrote that Willa was named after our "little sister", Miss Lewis' text reads: "They named Willa after ... William Lee Boak, who was killed in the Civil War".