Wilhelm
About Wilhelm
This dignified German form of William belonged to two German Emperors and Kings of Prussia, as well as a host of other important historical figures. These include composer (Wilhelm) Richard Wagner, philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, and physicist Wilhelm Roentgen, who discovered the X-ray. It now sounds rather dated in Germany, however, having dropped out of the Top 20 there in the late 1920s and continuing to decline since.
Pronounced VIL-helm.
As of October 2026, Wilhelm ranked #4133 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #833 in 1885.
Editor's take: The name Wilhelm is a boy's name of German origin meaning "resolute protection".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #3,035 | 38 | 19.8 |
| 2015 | #4,699 | 21 | 11 |
| 2016 | #4,316 | 24 | 12.6 |
| 2017 | #4,322 | 24 | 13 |
| 2018 | #3,787 | 29 | 16 |
| 2019 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | #4,011 | 26 | 15.1 |
| 2021 | #4,233 | 25 | 14.3 |
| 2022 | #3,529 | 33 | 18.9 |
| 2023 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | #4,300 | 25 | 14.5 |
| 2025 | #4,133 | 26 | 15.2 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Wilhelm.
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- Franz
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- Eliav
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Wilhelm on lists
Famous Wilhelms
- Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig)
German emperor
- Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Preußen)
German emperor
- Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt
German physician; founder of modern psychology
- Wilhelm Marr
German radical, nationalist and race,agitator
- Wilhelm Roentgen
German Nobel Prize winner, discoverer of X,rays
- Wilhelm Heinrich Erb
German Neurologist
- Wilhelm Furtwängler
German conductor and composer
- Wilhelm Grimm
German anthropologist
- Wilhelm Keitel
German Field Marshal
- Wilhelm List
German Field Marshal
- Wilhelm Reich
Austrian,American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst
- Wilhelm Wien
German Nobel Prize Winner
- William Charles John Pitcher or C. Wilhelm
British costume designer
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
German philosopher
- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
German philosopher
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
German mathematician and philosopher
- Wilhelm von Humboldt
German philosopher and diplomat
- Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
German philosopher
- Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio
American actor
Wilhelm in pop culture
- Wilhelm Stuckart
character in movie "Conspiracy"
- Wilhelm Klink
colonel on TV's "Hogan's Heroes"
- Wilhelm
character in Xenosaga video games
- Wilhelm
servant in manga "Ludwig Kakumei"
- Wilhelm Wicki
character in movie "Inglorious Basterds"
- Wilhelm
character in the Borderlands video games
- Wilhelm
king in animated movie "Barbie as Rapunzel"
- Reinhardt Wilhelm
character in Overwatch