Liam

What Liam means

Form of William, meaning “will + helmet”

itself from English William || 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

Source: Wiktionary, “Liam” (revision 94541141) and “William” (revision 94595525), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Liam?

US: Steady: #2 in 2015, #1 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #81 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2024, when 22,252 boys got the name (#1 that year). First in the US records in 1947.

How common

• About 1 in 82 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 356 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 242 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in RI (20.49 per 1,000 boys), MD (20.22 per 1,000 boys), DE (20.02 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Liam is #1 in the US and #68 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9% of US babies named Liam were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Liem22 US
• Leam16 US
• Leeam8 US
• Lliam7 US
• Luam6 US
• Liiam5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Liam

Boys

• Declan#139Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #139 vs #372 in 2025
• Kian#400Editor’s note Up from #489 in 2015 to #400 in 2025 in the US
• Finn#206“the Sami”^*
• Rhys#410Welsh, from Old Welsh Ris, meaning “ardor, fiery warrior”^*
• Ronan#247Irish, meaning “little seal”^*
• Rowan#59“little red one”^*

For a sister

• Teagan#340Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1979, with 6 babies
• Rowan#249“little red one”^*
• Kenna#759“descendant of Cionaodh”^*
• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Alaina#224Form of Elon, meaning “oak tree”^*
• Guinevere#898Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #898 vs #2,788 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Liam’s. Rank is US 2025.