Every Boy Name

Boy's name

William

Say it WIL-yum 2 syllables

Germanic · “will + helmet”

Loved across three Nordic countries, Quebec, Queensland, and 2 more places. Common across the UK, Ontario, Switzerland, and 7 more places. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 9 more places.

1 in 187 boys born in England and Wales in 2025. Number 25 there.

William in every place

Rank, count and share in all 40 places: loved in 7, common in 12, rare in 12.
William in every place we hold figures for
Place Rankyear Boysshare 5 years earlier
British Isles
England and Wales25 (down)20251,4561 in 187202020
Scotland52 (down)2025801 in 246362020
Northern Ireland59 (up)2025381 in 218682020
Ireland73 (down)2025811 in 293512020
North America
Ontario (province)12 (down)2024414about 1 in 14562019
Quebec (province)6 (down)2025456about 1 in 6432020
British Columbia (province)27 (down)202369about 1 in 18972018
Nova Scotia (province)220253922020
Oceania
New South Wales (state)11 (down)202529032020
Victoria (state)10 (down)202528632020
Queensland (state)5 (down)202531242020
South Australia (state)14 (down)20256842020
New Zealand16 (down)202512582020
Western Europe
France126 (down)20254851 in 624922020
Netherlands374 (up)202540about 1 in 1,6634522020
Central Europe
Austria265 (down)2025221 in 1,7302582020
Switzerland61 (up)2025981 in 3671062020
Berlin (city)212 (down)202316about 1 in 9691872018
Munich (city)144 (up)20259about 1 in 4861732020
Cologne (city)325 (down)20233about 1 in 2,1262462018
Bonn (city)97 (up)20256about 1 in 5281882020
Leipzig (city)170 (down)20253about 1 in 9591542020
Rostock (city)96 (up)20252about 1 in 5241052020
Nordic countries
Norway3 (up)20253681 in 6342020
Sweden7 (down)2025514about 1 in 8412020
Denmark9 (down)202542952020
FinlandNot in the published top 502025No list2020
IcelandNot in the published top 102025No list2020
Southern Europe
SpainNot in the published top 1002024Not listed2019
Catalonia (region)480 (down)202561 in 3,4514552020
Italy169 (down)20241131 in 1,6761332019
Central and Eastern Europe
Poland190 (up)2025421 in 3,0102412020
HungaryNot in the published top 1002025Not listed2020
SloveniaRare: below the complete list2025Not listed2020
EstoniaNot in the published top 272025Not listed2020
Moscow (city)Not in the published top 612025Not listed2020
CroatiaNot in the published top 502025No list2020
Middle East
TurkeyNot in the published top 302025Not listed2020
IsraelRare: below the complete list2024Not listed2019
Latin America
ArgentinaNot in the published top 202024Not listed2019

Germany publishes no national list; the German rows are city registers. About: the publisher leaves out its smallest names, so the share is approximate. ▲ and ▼ compare the rank with five years earlier. Not listed five years earlier: not in that year’s list. No list: the place published no list that year. How these figures are computed.

About the name

Germanic words for 'will' and 'helmet' make up William. It came into English with the Normans through the Anglo-Norman Willame, and Latin rendered it as Gulielmus.

2 more paragraphs

Said WIL-yum, it has two syllables and a long tradition of short forms: Will is the obvious one, and Bill, Billy and Liam all grew from it. Across Europe it becomes Wilhelm, Guillaume and Guillermo.

William is especially loved in Scandinavia, ranking near the top in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and it is a leading name in Queensland, Quebec and Victoria too. In Canadian records it was at its most common in the 1920s, and it is now drifting down in most of the places that list it, though it remains a very familiar name.

Meaning, origin and how to say it

Say it
WIL-yum · 2 syllables · Stress on beat 1 of 2.
Meaning
“will + helmet”
Origin
Germanic
Related names
Guillermo, Wyatt, Viljami, Bill, Billy, Liam, Wilhelm, Guillaume, Williams, Fitzwilliam, Gill, Wilcock, Wilcox, Wilk, Wilke, Wilken, Wilkes, Wilkie, Wilkin
Where William comes from (Wiktionary)

From Middle English William, from Anglo-Norman Willame, from Old High German Willahelm, from Proto-Germanic *Wiljahelmaz (> Latin Gulielmus), from Proto-Germanic *wiljô (“will”) + *helmaz (“helmet”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European roots *welh₁- (“to choose, wish, want”) and *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal, save”) respectively.

Shortened from the Wiktionary entry for William. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

William over time

Rising in 3 of the 28 regions we can compare over five years, falling in 10. Peak in Ontario and British Columbia: 1926.

Rank in England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

William in England and Wales: #21 in 1996, a peak of #7 in 2006, and #25 in 2025.

#1#10#50#100#300200020052010201520202025Top 101996: #21, 4,269 boys1997: #19, 4,499 boys1998: #14, 4,879 boys1999: #10, 5,287 boys2000: #12, 4,804 boys2001: #13, 4,459 boys2002: #9, 5,037 boys2003: #9, 4,904 boys2004: #8, 5,212 boys2005: #8, 5,106 boys2006: #7, 4,886 boys2007: #8, 5,148 boys2008: #10, 5,169 boys2009: #8, 5,247 boys2010: #7, 5,256 boys2011: #10, 4,632 boys2012: #9, 4,590 boys2013: #8, 4,268 boys2014: #10, 4,134 boys2015: #8, 4,083 boys2016: #11, 3,819 boys2017: #11, 3,437 boys2018: #14, 3,015 boys2019: #17, 2,667 boys2020: #20, 2,215 boys2021: #21, 2,093 boys2022: #24, 1,806 boys2023: #29, 1,544 boys2024: #27, 1,517 boys2025: #25, 1,456 boys#21 in 1996peak #7, 2006#25in 2025
Show the numbers
YearRankBoys
1996214,269
1997194,499
1998144,879
1999105,287
2000124,804
2001134,459
200295,037
200394,904
200485,212
200585,106
200674,886
200785,148
2008105,169
200985,247
201075,256
2011104,632
201294,590
201384,268
2014104,134
201584,083
2016113,819
2017113,437
2018143,015
2019172,667
2020202,215
2021212,093
2022241,806
2023291,544
2024271,517
2025251,456

Source: Office for National Statistics (OGL v3)

The long view: in Ontario and British Columbia

Half of the boys named William in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 1955. Peak: 1926, about 7,517 per 100,000 boys. Babies per 100,000 boys, five-year periods.

1925-1929: 7,290.8 per 100,000 boys1930-1934: 6,812.1 per 100,000 boys1935-1939: 5,982.1 per 100,000 boys1940-1944: 5,588.5 per 100,000 boys19401945-1949: 4,651.7 per 100,000 boys1950-1954: 3,816.8 per 100,000 boys1955-1959: 2,964.5 per 100,000 boys1960-1964: 2,303.8 per 100,000 boys19601965-1969: 1,904 per 100,000 boys1970-1974: 1,459 per 100,000 boys1975-1979: 1,146.2 per 100,000 boys1980-1984: 1,092.1 per 100,000 boys19801985-1989: 991.6 per 100,000 boys1990-1994: 882.4 per 100,000 boys1995-1999: 987.5 per 100,000 boys2000-2004: 1,066.7 per 100,000 boys20002005-2009: 1,086.8 per 100,000 boys2010-2014: 1,138.6 per 100,000 boys2015-2019: 1,103.4 per 100,000 boys2020-2024: 801.6 per 100,000 boys20201925-1929: about 1 in 14 boys
Show the numbers
YearsPer 100,000 boys
1925–19297,290.8
1930–19346,812.1
1935–19395,982.1
1940–19445,588.5
1945–19494,651.7
1950–19543,816.8
1955–19592,964.5
1960–19642,303.8
1965–19691,904
1970–19741,459
1975–19791,146.2
1980–19841,092.1
1985–1989991.6
1990–1994882.4
1995–1999987.5
2000–20041,066.7
2005–20091,086.8
2010–20141,138.6
2015–20191,103.4
2020–2024801.6

Source: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (OGL-Ontario); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (OGL-BC). Dark bar: the period holding the median birth year.

Brothers and middle names for William

Brother names

Names that rose and fell with William, from the same generation, with no clashing sounds.

  1. 1 in 92, Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 622, England and Wales

  3. 1 in 61, Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 137, Scotland

  5. 1 in 105, Ireland

  6. 1 in 88, England and Wales

  7. 1 in 145, Ireland

  8. 1 in 264, England and Wales

  9. 1 in 196, England and Wales

  10. 1 in 130, Ireland

All 40 brother names for William

Middle names

Scored for rhythm against William's 2 syllables and for long, steady use.

  1. 1 in 86, England and Wales

  2. 1 in 50, Ireland

  3. 1 in 61, Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 103, England and Wales

  5. 1 in 130, Scotland

  6. 1 in 62, Poland

  7. 1 in 88, England and Wales

  8. 1 in 224, Northern Ireland

Full-name check

William Oliver

Syllables 2-3Initials W.O.No sound clashes between the parts.

All 40 middle names for William

Sisters for William: Evelyn, Eleanor, Sophie, and 5 more
  1. EvelynRose and fell with William · Germanic, like William
  2. EleanorRose and fell with William · Same generation as William
  3. SophieRose and fell with William · As common as William
  4. ElizabethRose and fell with William
  5. HeidiRose and fell with William · Germanic, like William
  6. EmmaRose and fell with William · Germanic, like William
  7. FlorenceRose and fell with William
  8. AliceRose and fell with William · Germanic, like William

Girls' names from the same engine, over the girls' lists of the same publishers.

Moved with William

The boy names whose popularity rose and fell most like William's across every region and decade we hold.

  1. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 13 more places.

  2. Common across the UK, Italy, the Netherlands, and 9 more places.

  3. Common across the UK, Sweden, Austria, and 10 more places.

  4. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 20 more places.

  5. Rare across the UK, Italy, Poland, and 15 more places.

  6. Rare in Italy, Poland, Israel, and 15 more places.

  7. Rare in France, Italy, Poland, and 11 more places.

  8. Common across France, the UK, Italy, and 25 more places.

Famous people named William

William Shakespeare, William Blake, and 6 more

From Wikidata, ranked by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article on them. People: Wikidata (CC0). Links go to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists, else English.

Questions about William

How popular is William in Queensland?

William ranked #5 in Queensland in 2025, given to 312 boys.

Is William rising in popularity?

Not overall: it is falling in more places than it is rising. Rising in 3 of the 28 regions we can compare over five years, falling in 10. Rising in: Poland, Bonn, and Munich.

What does William mean?

William means “will + helmet”, according to Wiktionary.

How many syllables does William have?

William has 2 syllables: WIL-yum.

Every rank and count on this page comes from an official birth register. How these figures are computed.

Meanings, origins and people: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikidata (CC0).

The 42 birth registers behind these figures

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Kept names collect here.

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