Primarily a boy's name · 100% boys
Origin: EnglishWilliam is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066, and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era.
From Wikipedia
In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of William yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
Bill, Will, Wills, William — we liked that he'd have options as he got older. Some kids like a nickname, some don't. We wanted to give him the full toolkit.
— Amy, Charlotte NC, 2018
My great-grandfather was Wilhelm, came over from Germany in 1923. We anglicised it to William as a nod to that history. He kept a photo of his Opa on the dresser his whole life.
— Greg, Milwaukee WI, 2016
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to William · Compare William with another name → · Popular names of the 1940s · Boys names starting with W
Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 9,532 | #2 |
| 1881 | 8,524 | #2 |
| 1882 | 9,298 | #2 |
| 1883 | 8,387 | #2 |
| 1884 | 8,897 | #2 |
| 1885 | 8,044 | #2 |
| 1886 | 8,252 | #2 |
| 1887 | 7,470 | #2 |
| 1888 | 8,705 | #2 |
| 1889 | 7,772 | #2 |
| 1890 | 7,494 | #2 |
| 1891 | 6,763 | #2 |
| 1892 | 7,782 | #2 |
| 1893 | 7,223 | #2 |
| 1894 | 7,274 | #2 |
| 1895 | 7,277 | #2 |
| 1896 | 7,747 | #2 |
| 1897 | 7,198 | #2 |
| 1898 | 7,400 | #2 |
| 1899 | 6,086 | #2 |
| 1900 | 8,579 | #2 |
| 1901 | 5,990 | #2 |
| 1902 | 6,617 | #2 |
| 1903 | 6,311 | #2 |
| 1904 | 6,416 | #2 |
| 1905 | 6,495 | #2 |
| 1906 | 6,566 | #2 |
| 1907 | 6,904 | #2 |
| 1908 | 7,529 | #2 |
| 1909 | 7,913 | #2 |
| 1910 | 8,844 | #3 |
| 1911 | 10,593 | #2 |
| 1912 | 19,626 | #2 |
| 1913 | 23,538 | #2 |
| 1914 | 29,753 | #2 |
| 1915 | 38,563 | #2 |
| 1916 | 40,418 | #2 |
| 1917 | 42,422 | #2 |
| 1918 | 45,291 | #2 |
| 1919 | 43,970 | #2 |
| 1920 | 50,146 | #2 |
| 1921 | 51,862 | #3 |
| 1922 | 51,112 | #3 |
| 1923 | 52,136 | #3 |
| 1924 | 53,506 | #3 |
| 1925 | 53,309 | #3 |
| 1926 | 51,922 | #4 |
| 1927 | 51,476 | #4 |
| 1928 | 49,119 | #4 |
| 1929 | 47,814 | #4 |
| 1930 | 47,271 | #4 |
| 1931 | 43,280 | #4 |
| 1932 | 42,127 | #4 |
| 1933 | 39,047 | #4 |
| 1934 | 40,176 | #4 |
| 1935 | 40,200 | #4 |
| 1936 | 39,398 | #4 |
| 1937 | 40,724 | #4 |
| 1938 | 42,432 | #4 |
| 1939 | 42,073 | #4 |
| 1940 | 44,781 | #4 |
| 1941 | 47,797 | #4 |
| 1942 | 54,891 | #4 |
| 1943 | 55,904 | #4 |
| 1944 | 52,373 | #4 |
| 1945 | 50,218 | #4 |
| 1946 | 60,030 | #4 |
| 1947 | 67,001 | #4 |
| 1948 | 61,970 | #4 |
| 1949 | 61,504 | #4 |
| 1950 | 60,679 | #6 |
| 1951 | 62,783 | #6 |
| 1952 | 63,039 | #6 |
| 1953 | 61,830 | #6 |
| 1954 | 61,431 | #6 |
| 1955 | 59,985 | #6 |
| 1956 | 58,990 | #6 |
| 1957 | 56,850 | #6 |
| 1958 | 54,254 | #6 |
| 1959 | 51,385 | #7 |
| 1960 | 49,344 | #7 |
| 1961 | 48,035 | #7 |
| 1962 | 44,859 | #7 |
| 1963 | 44,444 | #7 |
| 1964 | 44,223 | #7 |
| 1965 | 40,111 | #6 |
| 1966 | 38,240 | #6 |
| 1967 | 37,619 | #6 |
| 1968 | 36,928 | #6 |
| 1969 | 37,608 | #6 |
| 1970 | 38,889 | #7 |
| 1971 | 35,416 | #7 |
| 1972 | 30,512 | #9 |
| 1973 | 28,015 | #9 |
| 1974 | 26,977 | #10 |
| 1975 | 25,562 | #10 |
| 1976 | 24,433 | #11 |
| 1977 | 24,757 | #12 |
| 1978 | 24,174 | #13 |
| 1979 | 24,680 | #13 |
| 1980 | 25,638 | #14 |
| 1981 | 24,801 | #15 |
| 1982 | 25,606 | #15 |
| 1983 | 25,396 | #16 |
| 1984 | 24,902 | #16 |
| 1985 | 24,608 | #16 |
| 1986 | 24,333 | #15 |
| 1987 | 24,203 | #15 |
| 1988 | 24,125 | #16 |
| 1989 | 24,674 | #15 |
| 1990 | 24,909 | #16 |
| 1991 | 23,858 | #19 |
| 1992 | 23,066 | #20 |
| 1993 | 22,219 | #18 |
| 1994 | 21,491 | #19 |
| 1995 | 20,160 | #20 |
| 1996 | 20,544 | #18 |
| 1997 | 20,020 | #19 |
| 1998 | 20,835 | #14 |
| 1999 | 20,716 | #14 |
| 2000 | 20,669 | #11 |
| 2001 | 20,110 | #10 |
| 2002 | 20,136 | #11 |
| 2003 | 19,999 | #11 |
| 2004 | 20,235 | #8 |
| 2005 | 19,060 | #11 |
| 2006 | 18,963 | #10 |
| 2007 | 18,894 | #8 |
| 2008 | 18,403 | #8 |
| 2009 | 17,935 | #5 |
| 2010 | 17,071 | #5 |
| 2011 | 17,359 | #3 |
| 2012 | 16,914 | #5 |
| 2013 | 16,665 | #5 |
| 2014 | 16,847 | #5 |
| 2015 | 15,945 | #5 |
| 2016 | 15,808 | #3 |
| 2017 | 15,042 | #3 |
| 2018 | 14,645 | #3 |
| 2019 | 13,649 | #4 |
| 2020 | 12,673 | #5 |
| 2021 | 12,166 | #6 |
| 2022 | 11,349 | #6 |
| 2023 | 10,653 | #10 |
| 2024 | 10,596 | #10 |
