William

What William means

Means “will + helmet”

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

How popular is William?

US: Falling: down from #5 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #8 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1880, when 9,532 boys got the name (#2 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 162 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 187 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 246 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 WY (22.02 per 1,000 boys), DC (17.02 per 1,000 boys), AK (15.85 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

William is #9 in the US and #25 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 William 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

• Wiliam13 US · 3 E&W
• Willliam7 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.

Nicknames

• Bill
• Billie
• Billy
• Liam
• Will
• Wills
• Willie
• Willy

Listed on Wiktionary under “variants and pet forms”.

If you like William

Boys

• Derrick#850Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #384 in 2015, #850 in 2025
• Eric#273Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1970, with 23,571 babies; 1,256 in 2025
• Raymond#394“advice + protection”^*
• Garrett#564Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #269 in 2015, #564 in 2025
• Jeffrey#552Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #552 vs #1,705 in 2025
• Richard#234“king, ruler + hard, brave”^*

For a sister

• Alison#476“of noble kind”^*
• Allison#103Form of Elon, meaning “oak tree”^*
• Alyssa#453“a plant of the genus Alyssum”^*
• Alicia#460Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1984, with 7,820 babies; 672 in 2025
• Linda#902“tender, soft”^*
• Abby#731Diminutive of Abigail, meaning “my Father's joy”^*

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