# William (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/william/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Norman |
| Meaning | “will”, “helmet”, “to choose”, “wish”, “want”, “to cover”, “conceal”, “save” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈwɪl.i.əm/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Bill, Billy, Will, Willie, Willy, Wills, Billie, Wilcock |
| Variant spellings | Williamina |
| US babies named this | 4,215,725 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 4,199,696 / 16,029 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 119,441, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 28 | 5,056 |
| 2012 | 19 | 6,858 |
| 2013 | 14 | 8,554 |
| 2014 | 23 | 5,786 |
| 2015 | 15 | 7,988 |
| 2016 | 20 | 6,389 |
| 2017 | 18 | 6,792 |
| 2018 | 12 | 9,127 |
| 2019 | 12 | 9,085 |
| 2020 | 14 | 7,946 |
| 2021 | 21 | 5,940 |
| 2022 | 7 | 13,495 |
| 2023 | 6 | 15,081 |
| 2024 | 9 | 11,067 |
| 2025 | 7 | 13,115 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 17,362 | 3 |
| 2012 | 16,917 | 5 |
| 2013 | 16,669 | 5 |
| 2014 | 16,851 | 5 |
| 2015 | 15,950 | 5 |
| 2016 | 15,810 | 3 |
| 2017 | 15,046 | 3 |
| 2018 | 14,646 | 3 |
| 2019 | 13,658 | 4 |
| 2020 | 12,676 | 5 |
| 2021 | 12,170 | 6 |
| 2022 | 11,356 | 6 |
| 2023 | 10,673 | 10 |
| 2024 | 10,647 | 10 |
| 2025 | 10,545 | 9 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3 | 5,785 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 4,632 | 10 |
| 2012 | 4,590 | 9 |
| 2013 | 4,268 | 8 |
| 2014 | 4,134 | 10 |
| 2015 | 4,083 | 8 |
| 2016 | 3,819 | 11 |
| 2017 | 3,437 | 11 |
| 2018 | 3,015 | 14 |
| 2019 | 2,667 | 17 |
| 2020 | 2,215 | 20 |
| 2021 | 2,093 | 21 |
| 2022 | 1,806 | 24 |
| 2023 | 1,544 | 29 |
| 2024 | 1,517 | 27 |
| 2025 | 1,456 | 25 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: وِيلْيَام, وِلْيَم
- Armenian: Գուլիելմոս, Վիլհելմ, Ուիլյամ
- Bulgarian: Уи́лям
- Catalan: Guillem
- Chinese: 威廉
- Czech: Vilém
- Danish: Vilhelm
- Dutch: Willem, Wim
- Esperanto: Vilhelmo
- Estonian: Villem
- Finnish: Vilho, Ville, Vilhelm
- French: Guillaume, William
- Georgian: უილიამი, ვილიამი, ვილჰელმი, გიომი
- German: Wilhelm
- Greek: Γουλιέλμος, Ουίλλιαμ, Γουίλιαμ
- Hebrew: וילהלם, וויליאם
- Hindi: विलियम
- Hungarian: Vilmos
- Icelandic: Vilhjálmur
- Irish: Uilliam, Liam

## People named William

- William Shakespeare, English playwright and poet (1564–1616)
- William Blake, English poet and artist (1757–1827)
- William Faulkner, American writer (1897-1962)
- William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States from 1909 to 1913 (1857–1930)
- William Wordsworth, English Romantic poet (1770–1850)
- William James, American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist (1842–1910)
- William Golding, British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate (1911–1993)
- William Somerset Maugham, English playwright and author (1874–1965)
- William Herschel, German-born British astronomer and composer (1738–1822)
- William Henry Bragg, British scientist (1862–1942)
- William Ewart Gladstone, British Liberal prime minister (1809–1898)
- William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, British physicist and engineer (1824–1907)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.