William
Boy nameWilliam has been given to 4,215,725 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It peaked in 1947 and currently ranks #9 for boys (2025).
Meaning & origin /ˈwɪl.i.əm/
From Middle English William, from Anglo-Norman Willame, from Old High German Willahelm, from Proto-Germanic *Wiljahelmaz (> Latin Gulielmus), from Proto-Germanic *wiljô (“will”) + *helmaz (“helmet”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European roots *welh₁- (“to choose, wish, want”) and *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal, save”) respectively. Cognate with Dutch Willem, German Wilhelm, etc.; cognate borrowings outside of Germanic include Guillaume and Guillermo.
Origin: Germanic languages
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
4,215,725
Peak year
1947 (67,156 babies)
Rank in 2025
#9 for boys
First recorded
1880
10-year trend
▼ -34%
Gender split
0% girls / 100% boys
Famous people named William
William Shakespeare
English playwright and poet (1564–1616)
Bill Gates
American businessman, investor, and philanthropist (born 1955)
Bill Clinton
President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 (born 1946)
William Blake
English poet and artist (1757–1827)
Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as William.
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