William
- Pronunciation
- [Wi-lli-am]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Will or desire, and helmet or protection
- Origin
- Germanic
Meaning and history of William
William comes from a Germanic name built from elements for will or desire and helmet or protection. “Resolute protector” is a conventional summary of those components. Liam is an Irish short form. The usage records keep Liam and William as separate written names.
Name-history references: William · Liam. Reviewed October 27, 2026.
By Marvin Tang. Popularity figures use an imported selection of SSA records; SSA does not supply name meanings or etymologies. Editorial references, where available, are listed with the name explanation. Sources and coverage.
Quick Facts About William
US Popularity History (1880–2025)
Annual imported US counts for William by recorded sex, from US Social Security Administration records. Highest count in the imported records: 1947 with 67,001 boys named William (boy rank #4 that year).
Latest imported observation: in 2025, ranked #9 for boys (10,545 imported records). That's 5 places below its 1947 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Coverage: imported US Social Security card-application records, not a complete birth census. Historical coverage is narrower, including top-100 selection before 2000; recent imports also use catalog and rank filters. Missing rows can reflect those filters or source privacy limits and must not be read as zero or fewer than five uses. Spellings and recorded sex are kept separate.
Paste the snippet below on any HTML page. Includes a credit link back to 9BabyNames — please keep it intact.
Look up William across states
Compare this exact spelling in one year and recorded sex list. Missing state records remain unknown.
Observed State Ranks for William
Average boy-name rank across the same 2016–2025 window, limited to 51 jurisdictions with every year imported. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings. This is an ordinal comparison, not a per-capita rate. States with missing years are excluded. For William the lowest observed averages are in Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi.
Lowest observed average rank
| # | State | Avg rank | Imported count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | #1 | 3,569 |
| 2 | South Carolina | #2 | 2,959 |
| 3 | Mississippi | #2 | 1,748 |
| 4 | Tennessee | #2 | 4,547 |
| 5 | Georgia | #2 | 5,624 |
| 6 | North Carolina | #3 | 5,652 |
| 7 | Virginia | #3 | 4,490 |
| 8 | Utah | #4 | 2,320 |
| 9 | District of Columbia | #4 | 651 |
| 10 | Kentucky | #4 | 2,458 |
Highest observed average rank
| # | State | Avg rank | Imported count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | #39 | 412 |
| 2 | California | #35 | 10,422 |
| 3 | Nevada | #30 | 733 |
| 4 | New Jersey | #27 | 2,523 |
| 5 | Arizona | #26 | 1,886 |
| 6 | Florida | #23 | 5,671 |
| 7 | Hawaii | #22 | 302 |
| 8 | New York | #22 | 5,655 |
| 9 | Rhode Island | #21 | 346 |
| 10 | Texas | #18 | 10,513 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. Only states with all 10 annual observations for this spelling and recorded sex are compared. Missing states are excluded, not assigned zero. Average rank measures position in state rankings, not a per-capita rate. Local import filters and SSA privacy limits can both create gaps. Coverage and limitations.
Related Forms in This Catalog
Open each form for its own meaning, language history, and exact-spelling usage records.
Famous People Named William
12 notable figures from history and culture who share the name William.
- William Blake — Philosopher (1757)
- William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist and one of the pioneers of Romantic poetry.
- William Cullen Bryant is best remembered as the romantic poet and editor of New York Evening Post.
- William E. Simon was a successful businessman and philanthropist.
- William Edwards Deming was an American statistician, professor, author, lecturer, and consultant.
- William Ellery was one of the Founding Fathers of America and signed the famous Declaration of Independence.
- William Ewart Gladstone was a famous British politician who served as the Prime Minister of United Kingdom four times.
- William Faulkner — Novelist (1897)
- William Gibson is an American-Canadian novelist who pioneered the genre of science/speculative fiction.
- William Glasser was an American psychiatrist who developed the reality and choice theory.
- William Godwin was a famous political philosopher, journalist and novelist.
- William Golding was an English poet, novelist, playwright and a winner of Nobel Prize and Booker Prize.
Looking for names like William?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare William to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for William against names with the largest imported counts for boys-name peers (top 8 with every year imported, 2016–2025). Names with missing annual observations are excluded from this comparison.
William Baby Name Ideas
- When a Nickname Starts With a Different Letter From the Legal Name: Plan for Initials, Forms, and Daily Use
- Can You Use a Different-Gender Name as an Honor Name? Building a Recognizable Family Connection
- Baby Names for Last Names Starting With T: Keep the T Seam Clear Without Overcorrecting
- How to Honor a Relative Who Was Known by a Nickname, Middle Name, or Chosen Name
- When the Nickname Rhymes With the Last Name: Test the Call Form, Not Just the Legal Name
- Pride and Prejudice Baby Names: From the Bennet Sisters to Quiet Regency References
- When a Baby Name Has Different Nicknames Across Languages: Building One Flexible Family Plan
- How to End a Family Naming Tradition With Care: Keeping the Story Without Repeating the Pattern
- Should Sibling Names Have Similar Nickname Range? Balancing Full Forms and Everyday Call Names
- When a Baby's Initials Spell a Word: A Practical Test Before the Name Is Final
- How to Reuse a Repeated Family First Name Without Creating Another Namesake Mix-Up
- Baby Names for Surnames That Are Everyday Words: Avoiding Accidental Full-Name Phrases
- When Two Family Members Already Share the Nickname You Want for the Baby
- The Best Middle Names for Joseph: Pairings That Separate the Full Name From Joe and Joey
- When a First Name Ends With the Sound a Last Name Starts With: Fixing a Blurred Name Boundary
- When You Love a Baby Name but Dislike Its Usual Nickname: Planning for the Full Name in Real Life
- Baby Names for Last Names Ending in -son: Avoiding a Surname Stack
- The Best Middle Names for John: Pairings That Give a One-Syllable Classic More Range
- Formal but Not Fussy Baby Names: Polished Choices That Still Feel Warm
- Two-Middle-Name Baby Names: How to Build a Full Name That Still Moves