William
2025 SSA
2025 SSA
About William
William is one of the most enduring of classic names for boys. It's also among the most popular boys' names, as American parents see it as being ideally conservative yet contemporary, and hands-down the most popular baby name beginning with W of all time.
For 400 years, William has been second only to John as the most popular name in the English-speaking world. And now of course, it's also a newsy name—thanks to Britain's high-profile Prince William.
William is derived from the Germanic name Wilhelm, composed of the elements wil, "will," and helm, referring to a helmet or protection. The name was introduced to England by William the Conqueror, with William being the Norman variation of the name. In Central and Southern France, it was translated as Guillaume.
In terms of short forms, yesterday's Bills and Billys have given way to today's Wills—or Williams, with no diminutive—though a few hip Billys, including Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton's, have surfaced recently.
But Irish spinoff Liam is the most stylish William nickname and has now superseded William, becoming the most popular boy name in America. Riding the William bandwagon is the Dutch Willem, which comes with the unique nickname Pim.
William has long reigned as a royal name in the U.K. There are tons of worthy namesakes called William, including William Shakespeare, Bill Gates and four U.S. presidents.
William is also given to girls, where it ranks #13115 in the US.
Pronounced WIL-yum.
As of October 2026, William ranked #9 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #2 in 1887, Nameberry popularity #23.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · boys | Births · boys | US rank · girls | Births · girls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #5 | 16,847 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #5 | 15,945 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #3 | 15,808 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #3 | 15,042 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #3 | 14,645 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #4 | 13,649 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #5 | 12,673 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #6 | 12,166 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #6 | 11,349 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #10 | 10,653 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #10 | 10,596 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #9 | 10,545 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like William.
William on lists
Famous Williams
- William I the ConquerorBoy
first Norman King of England
- William IIBoy
King of England
- William III of OrangeBoy
King of Great Britain and Ireland
- William IV (William Henry)Boy
King of the United Kingdom
- William I (Willem Frederik)Boy
King of the Netherlands
- William II (Willem Frederik George Lodewijk)Boy
King of the Netherlands
- William III (Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk)Boy
King of the Netherlands
- William IBoy
II, Princes of Orange
- William IV (Willem Karel Hendrik Friso)Boy
Prince of Orange
- William V (Willem Batavus)Boy
Prince of Orange
- William the LionBoy
King of Scots
- William IBoy
III, Kings of Sicily
- William Arthur Philip LouisBoy
Prince of the United Kingdom; Duke of Cambridge; 2nd in line to the British throne
- William TyndaleBoy
English martyr who translated the Bible into English
- William ShakespeareBoy
English poet and writer
- William Henry HarrisonBoy
9th U.S. president
- William McKinleyBoy
25th U.S. president
- William Howard TaftBoy
27th U.S. president
- William Jefferson "Bill" ClintonBoy
42nd U.S. president
- William James "Bill" O'Reilly Jr.Boy
American television host
- William Cuthbert FaulknerBoy
American novelist
- William Temple ToddBoy
son of U.S. First Lady Dolley Madison
- William Wallace LincolnBoy
son of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
- William Henry SewardBoy
American politician, governor and senator from New York
- William Bradley "Brad" PittBoy
American actor
- William "Bill" ShatnerBoy
Canadian actor
- William Henry "Bill" GatesBoy
American founder of Microsoft, Inc.
- William WilberforceBoy
English abolitionist politician
- William DawesBoy
rode with Paul Revere on the "Midnight Ride"
- William Stephens SmithBoy
husband of Abigail "Nabby" Adams, son,in,law of U.S. President John Adams
- William "Bill" PaxtonBoy
American actor
- William Hall MacyBoy
American actor
- William Louis PetersenBoy
American actor
- William Peter MoseleyBoy
English actor
- William James "Wil" AndersonBoy
Australian comedian
- William Turner WaltonBoy
English composer
- William Denby "Bill" HannaBoy
American cartoonist of Hanna,Barbera
- William James Adams aka Will.I.Am.Boy
American R&B singer
- William "Billy" Dean MartinBoy
musician of American band Good Charlotte
- William "Adam" West (Anderson)Boy
American actor
- William Emerson "Will" ArnettBoy
American actor
- William Henry "Hank" GreenBoy
American comedian, YouTuber and educator
- William Justus GoebelBoy
American politician, governor of Kentucky
- William Miles "Will" DunnBoy
English actor
- William Daniel PhillipsBoy
American physicist and Nobel prize winner
- William ThomsonBoy
British mathematical physicist and engineer
- William Henry BraggBoy
physicist, mathematician & Nobel,prize winner
- William Lawrence BraggBoy
Australian,British physicist & Nobel prize winner
- William John Paul "Liam" GallagherBoy
lead singer of English band Oasis
- William Ford GibsonBoy
American novelist
- William CaxtonBoy
English printing pioneer
- William "Bill" HaderBoy
actor/comedian/writer
- William James HehirBoy
bass player on band MisterWives
- William "Will" Rankin PattonBoy
American Actor
- William BeckettBoy
lead singer of American band The Academy Is...
- William "Billy" JoelBoy
American singer/songwriter/pianist
- William MeynardBoy
French swimmer
- William Seward Burroughs IBoy
American inventor
- William Seward Burroughs IIBoy
American writer
- Olajide William "JJ" Olatunji aka KSIBoy
English YouTuber
- Richard William "Wil" WheatonBoy
American actor
- William "Bill" AndersBoy
American astronaut
- William CommonsBoy
son of Scottish Footballer Kris Commons
- William TrueBoy
son of actress Kirstie Alley
- William Luca CostaBoy
Marsden, son of actor James Marsden
- William Wolf HoweyBoy
son of Sarah Shahi & Steve Howey
- William Lawson BatesBoy
4th child (2nd son) of the reality TV show "Bringing Up Bates" family
- William "Billy" John Kimmel (b. 2017)Boy
son of American television host, comedian, writer, and producer Jimmy Kimmel
- William Hammington (b. 2016)Boy
son of Australian comedian Samuel Hammington
- William Behr Jenner (b. 2019)Boy
son of Burt Jenner and Valerie Pitalo
William in pop culture
- William "Will" HalsteadBoy
character on TV's Chicago Med.
- William Harold Ryan "Will" MunsonBoy
character on American soap As The World Turns
- (William) Sherlock Scott HolmesBoy
main character on TV's "Sherlock"
- William AftonBoy
villain in Five Nights at Freddy's games and book
- William "Bill" WeasleyBoy
character in the Harry Potter series
- William "Bill" Forbes IIBoy
character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries", father of Caroline Forbes.
- William "Bill" ComptonBoy
character on TV's 'True Blood'
- William RikerBoy
character on TV's 'Star Trek: the Next Generation'
- William "Will" TrumanBoy
character on TV's 'Will & Grace'
- William "Will" ShuesterBoy
character on TV's 'Glee'
- William "Will" Owen HerondaleBoy
character from the Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare
- William MasonBoy
footman on TV's "Downton Abbey"
- William TownsendBoy
character in "Yesterday's child" by Barbara Wood
- William "Bill" DenbroughBoy
character in "It"
- William BuxtonBoy
character on TV's "Return to Cranford"
- William 'Will' GorskiBoy
character on sense8
- William "Will" TurnerBoy
character in movie/book "Me before you"
- William SayreBoy
character in J.K. Rowling's "Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"
- William the PukwudgieBoy
character in J.K. Rowling's "Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry"
- William ClaytonBoy
character on TV's "Arrow"
- William "Penny" AdiyodiBoy
character in "The Magicians"
- William StrykerBoy
character in "X,Men"
- William "Will" MunnyBoy
character in "Unforgiven"
- William "Billy" McMahonBoy
main character in film "The Internship"
- William "Bill" CageBoy
main character in film "Edge of Tomorrow"
- William PrattBoy
birth name of Spike, on TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel"
- William VanderboomBoy
character in the Rusty Lake and Cube Escape series
- William GreyBoy
character in the 1996 film "Independence Day" General, USMC, the head of the United States Space Command.Played by Robert Loggia , he modeled the character after World War II generals, particularly George S. Patton.
- William “Will” SolaceBoy
character in the Riordanverse
- William PattersonBoy
female character on TV's "Blindspot"
- James Ratri aka William MinervaBoy
character in the manga/anime series "The Promised Neverland"
- William "Will" ByersBoy
character in "Stranger Things"
- William BrownBoy
main character in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton
- William BirkinBoy
character in the video game series "Resident Evil"
- William BakerBoy
character in the Spider,Man series
- William 'Will' TurnerBoy
character in the Pirates of the Caribbean series
- William MurdochBoy
character on TV's "Murdoch Mysteries"
- William CollinsBoy
main character in film 'Chatroom'
- William 'Will' GardnerBoy
character on TV's 'The Good Wife'
- William 'Will' ParryBoy
character in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series
- William ScullyBoy
baby on TV's "The X,Files"
- William "Bill" MulderBoy
father of Fox William Mulder of "The X,Files"
- William "Billy" DunneBoy
Character in "Daisy Jones & The Six"
- "Sweet William's Ghost"Boy
17th century English ballad and folk song
- "The Downfall of William Grismond"Boy
17th century Broadside Ballad
- "England's Happiness in the Crowning of William and Mary"Boy
17th century Broadside Ballad
- "A new loyal song, upon King William's Progress into Ireland"Boy
17th century Broadside Ballad
- "Royal Courage, King William's Happy Success in Ireland"Boy
17th century Broadside Ballad
- "Redesdale and Wise William"Boy
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- "Fair Margaret and Sweet William"Boy
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- "Adam Bell, Clim of the Clough, and William of Cloudesly"Boy
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- "Lord William, or, Lord Lundy"Boy
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"