William
Right now William holds #9 in the country, sitting where it has sat for years. The peak was 1947, a name your child would share with a great-aunt, which is quietly part of its charm.
What William carries
William · Teutonic
“helmet of resolution”
Source: Charlotte M. Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), see our sources.
William’s free Name Kit
Five printables for William, drawn in your browser at print size the moment you ask: a name print for the wall, a nursery sign, a tracing sheet, a shortlist sheet, and twelve sibling names with the reason for each. Letter size, 300 dpi, in the site’s own hand.
- Name print Meaning, origin and the popularity curve on one sheet, ready for a frame.
- Nursery sign The name big and bright, for a door, a shelf or the top of a dresser.
- Tracing sheet The name in dotted letters, with room to go over it again and again.
- Shortlist sheet A page for weighing names side by side: initials, nicknames, how it sounds with yours.
- Sibling names sheet Twelve names that go with this one, each with the reason, from the sibling matcher.
Name print
Meaning, origin and the popularity curve on one sheet, ready for a frame.
Nursery sign
The name big and bright, for a door, a shelf or the top of a dresser.
Tracing sheet
The name in dotted letters, with room to go over it again and again.
Shortlist sheet
A page for weighing names side by side: initials, nicknames, how it sounds with yours.
Sibling names sheet
Twelve names that go with this one, each with the reason, from the sibling matcher.
Print on plain letter paper or heavier card; the sign and the print look best on matte stock.
William since 1880
William peaked in 1947 at #4; #9 in 2025.
United States national data, Social Security Administration, through 2025, how we use it.
Where William is most common
William is most common in Wyoming: 2.2% of the state's recorded boys' names in 2025. District of Columbia (1.7%) and Alaska (1.58%) follow.
Share of the state's recorded names for that sex, from the Social Security Administration's state file; a name is listed in a state only when five or more babies received it there that year.
Names that sit near William
Same shelf of the library: origin, era and shape, scored deterministically.
Charles
#48 in 2025 · Teutonic
Robert
#92 in 2025 · Teutonic
Richard
#234 in 2025 · Teutonic
Henry
#5 in 2025 · Teutonic
Warren
#240 in 2025 · Teutonic
Walter
#252 in 2025 · Teutonic
Emma
#3 in 2025 · Teutonic
Ella
#29 in 2025 · Teutonic
Browse: names starting with W · Teutonic names · all names
About William
How common is William today?
Right now William holds #9 in the country, sitting where it has sat for years. The full curve since 1880 is above, public federal data, redrawn, never estimated.
What is the recorded meaning of William?
In our cited reference the recorded gloss is “helmet of resolution”, of Teutonic origin (Charlotte M. Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884)).
Is there a sibling name for William?
The recipe puts Charles first, then Richard, on shared origin, a peak within fifteen years, matching syllables and a shared first letter. Run the sibling matcher with your own names for a list scored against them.
Get William’s free Name Kit
Five printables made in your browser: a name print for the wall, a nursery sign, a tracing sheet, a shortlist sheet and twelve sibling names with the reason for each. Yours in a moment, for one email.
Make the kitThe book is in the works
A printed picture book where William earns every letter of their own name, page by page. See the preview pages and hear when it is ready.
Preview the book