How rare is the name Williams?

8,123 people in the United States have the first name Williams, about 1 in 37,182. It ranks #2,846 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

WILLIAMS

#2,846

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,123
About
1 in 37,182
This common or more
81%
Who bears it

Of the 8,123 people named Williams, 42.8% reported their origin as White, 29.8% as Hispanic or Latino and 23.6% as Black. 93.9% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Williams peaked in 1950, when 86 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1950
Births that year
86
In 2025*
40 ▼53%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 6,150 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.

Williams by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #1,258. The largest share of babies named Williams, 18.3%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#1,258101
1890s#1,563106
1900s#1,632134
1910s#1,812386
1920s#1,762603
1930s#1,735547
1940s#1,903573
1950s#2,152613
1960s#2,584510
1970s#3,347411
1980s#4,000393
1990s#4,288494
2000s#4,854580
2010s#6,312426
2020s#5,986273
Before 19013.6%
Greatest Generation 1901–2716%
Silent Generation 1928–4516.2%
Baby boom 1946–6418.3%
Generation X 1965–8011.3%
Millennials 1981–9611.4%
Generation Z 1997–1213.8%
2013 and later9.3%

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 Williams is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Williams has been most common in Mississippi (12×), Georgia (4.5×), and Alabama (4.4×), and least common in New York (0.82×).

2,420 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 Williams

#2,844 Soren · 8,135#2,845 Rana · 8,124#2,847 Eula · 8,120#2,848 Jaylon · 8,119

Spelled almost the same

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

#28,942 Willians · 308#29,280 Williamson · 303#50,487 Willams · 119

Also a last name

As a last name, Williams ranks #3 of 156,621, with 1,561,395 people. See Williams as a last name

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