Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or

hypocorism A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as ''Izzy'' for Isabel or ''Bob (given name), Bob'' fo ...

of Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include:

Given name

Willi Apel Willi Apel (10 October 1893 – 14 March 1988) was a German-American musicologist and noted author of a number of books devoted to music. Among his most important publications are the 1944 edition of '' The Harvard Dictionary of Music'' and ''Fre ...

(1893–1988), German-American musicologist * Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991), Austrian violinist and conductor *

Willi Forst Willi Forst, born Wilhelm Anton Frohs (7 April 1903 – 11 August 1980) was an Austrian actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer and singer. As a debonair actor he was a darling of the German language, German-speaking film audiences, as ...

(1903–1980), born Wilhelm Anton Frohs, Austrian actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer and singer *

Willi Hennig Emil Hans Willi Hennig (20 April 1913 – 5 November 1976) was a German biologist and zoologist who is considered the founder of phylogenetic systematics, otherwise known as cladistics. In 1945 as a prisoner of war, Hennig began work on his th ...

(1913–1976), German biologist *

Willi Liebherr Willi Liebherr (born in 1947) is a German-Swiss entrepreneur, current member and former chairman of the board of Liebherr Group. Life and education Willi Liebherr grew up in Upper Swabia's, Kirchdorf an der Iller and in Biberach. He graduat ...

(born 1947), German-Swiss businessman and billionaire *

Willi Smith Willi Donnell Smith (February 29, 1948 – April 17, 1987) was an American fashion designer. At the time of his death, Smith was regarded as one of the most successful African-American designers in the fashion industry. His company, WilliWe ...

(1948–1987), African-American fashion designer * Willi Tiefel, German footballer * Willi Ziegler (1929–2002), German paleontologist

Nickname

Willi Graf Wilhelm "Willi" Graf (2 January 1918 – 12 October 1943) was a German member of the White Rose resistance group in Nazi Germany. The Catholic Church in Germany included Graf in their list of martyrs of the 20th century. In 2017, his cause for ...

(1918–1943), member of the White Rose anti-Nazi resistance group under consideration for sainthood *

Willi Münzenberg Wilhelm Münzenberg (14 August 1889 – June 1940) was a German Communist activist and publisher who served as the first head of the Young Communist International from 1919 to 1921 and as a member of the Reichstag from 1924 to 1933. He also foun ...

(1889–1940), German communist political activist and publisher *

Willi Orbán Willi Thomas Orbán (born 3 November 1992) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back for and Captain (association football), captains Bundesliga club RB Leipzig. Bo ...

(born 1992), German-Hungarian footballer *

Willi Ostermann Wilhelm "Willi" Ostermann (1 October 1876 – 6 August 1936) was a lyricist, composer and singer of carnival songs and songs about Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia a ...

(1876–1936), German lyricist, composer and singer of carnival songs and songs about Cologne * Willi Schmid (1893–1934), German music critic *

Willi Stoph Wilhelm Stoph (9 July 1914 – 13 April 1999) was a German politician. He served as Council of Ministers of East Germany, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1964 to 1973, and again from ...

(1914–1999), East German politician *

Willi Tokarev Willi Ivanovich Tokarev (; 11 November 1934 – 4 August 2019) was a Russian-American singer-songwriter. In the 1980s, he became famous throughout the Soviet Union for his songs about life as a Russian ''émigré'' in Brighton Beach, New York. ...

(1934–2019), Russian and former expatriate Russian-American singer-songwriter *

Willi Weber Wilhelm "Willi" Friedrich Weber (born March 11, 1942 in Regensburg, Germany) is a former manager of several German racing drivers, including Michael Schumacher (until 2012), Ralf Schumacher (until November 2005), Nico Hülkenberg (until 2011), ...

(born 1942), manager of German racing drivers

Surname

Andrea Willi Andrea Willi (born 25 May 1955) is a politician from Liechtenstein, and was the first woman to hold the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs. She was appointed to that role in the government of Prime Minister Mario Frick, and held it from 15 De ...

(born 1955), politician from Liechtenstein, first woman Minister of Foreign Affairs *

Andreas Willi Andreas Jonathan Willi (born 17 December 1972 in Altstätten) is a Swiss linguist, philologist, and classicist. He is currently the Diebold Professor of Comparative Philology at the University of Oxford and a professorial fellow of Worcester Colle ...

(born 1972), Swiss linguist, philologist and classicist *

Herbert Willi Herbert Willi (born 7 January 1956) is an Austrian composer of classical music, whose orchestral works, concertos and chamber music have been performed internationally and also recorded. Willi composed an opera, ''Schlafes Bruder'', for the Oper ...

(born 1956), Austrian composer of classical music *

Monika Willi Monika Willi (; born 29 May 1968), also known as Mona Willi, is an Austrian film editor. She is best known for her collaborations with filmmakers Michael Haneke, Michael Glawogger and Barbara Albert. In 2023, she was nominated for the Academy ...

(born 1968), Austrian film editor

Given name

Nickname

Surname

See also