How common is the name William?

2,240,114 people in the United States have the first name William, about 1 in 135. It ranks #6 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

WILLIAM

#6

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
2,240,114
About
1 in 135
This common or more
5.8%
Who bears it

Of the 2,240,114 people named William, 83.3% reported their origin as White, 6.9% as Black and 5.1% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

William peaked in 1947, when 67,156 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1947
Births that year
67,156
In 2025*
10,552 ▼84%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 4,215,725 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

William by decade

Among all names given to American babies, it ranked #3 in the 1880s, 1890s and 1910s. The largest share of babies named William, 25.5%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#385,246
1890s#372,618
1900s#469,646
1910s#3304,150
1920s#5515,057
1930s#5418,633
1940s#5557,985
1950s#7592,617
1960s#8423,227
1970s#10285,259
1980s#20249,961
1990s#24218,261
2000s#11194,769
2010s#8160,165
2020s#1268,131
Before 19013.9%
Greatest Generation 1901–2718.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4519.5%
Baby boom 1946–6425.5%
Generation X 1965–8011.9%
Millennials 1981–969%
Generation Z 1997–127.3%
2013 and later4.2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where William is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, William has been most common in Delaware (1.7×), District of Columbia (1.6×), and Kentucky (1.5×), and least common in Arizona (0.51×).

3,983,463 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of William

#4 David · 2,813,017#5 Robert · 2,759,339#7 Mary · 1,768,343#8 Maria · 1,652,966

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of William, most common first.

#2,510 Willian · 9,695#3,287 Willam · 6,497#4,602 Wiliam · 3,993#5,291 Willem · 3,279#6,566 Willaim · 2,429#9,801 Willliam · 1,396#14,117 Willim · 841#14,151 Wilian · 838

Also a last name

As a last name, William ranks #2,962 of 156,621, with 11,890 people. See William as a last name

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