William
Featured in baby name books
William is a Germanic name meaning “determined” or “constant protector,” with forms like Wilhelm, Guillermo, Guillaume, and Liam. William has been a favorite since William the Conqueror took England, and bearers range from Shakespeare and Wordsworth to Prince William and Will Smith. Will Riker is the bearded, trombone-playing first officer serving under Captain Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Sources: 10,000 Baby Names, 1,107 Baby Names That Stand the Test of Time, Baby Names Book, Baby Names (Laura Emerson), Baby Names Made Easy, Baby Names Your Child Can Live With, The Everything Baby Names Book, Numerology for Baby Names, Sci-Fi Baby Names
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Usage of William in different languages / cultures
The list below was created by gathering names from various sources for different languages, and then matching William against each list of names.
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Albanian
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Arabic
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Armenian
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Bengali
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Bulgarian
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Catalan
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Chinese
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Cornish
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Croatian
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Czech
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Danish
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Dothraki
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Dutch
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English
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Estonian
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Filipino
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Finnish
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French
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Georgian
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German
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Greek
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Hawaiian
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Hebrew
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Hindi
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Hungarian
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Icelandic
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Indonesian
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Irish
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Italian
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Japanese
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Khmer
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Klingon
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Korean
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Latin
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Latvian
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Lithuanian
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Macedonian
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Norwegian
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Persian
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Polish
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Portuguese
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Romanian
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Russian
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Scottish
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Serbian
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Slovak
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Slovenian
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Spanish
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Swahili
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Swedish
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Telugu
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Thai
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Turkish
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Ukrainian
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Vietnamese
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Welsh
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Yiddish
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Yoruba
Note: In some cases it is possible for the check mark to be missing even if William is used in a particular country, as almost no source name list has 100% coverage.
William in official name statistics
United States
In 2025, 10,545 boys were named William, making it the #9 boys' name in the US. Since 1880, 4,199,696 boys have been named William, with the most (67,002) in 1947. It is most common, relative to births, in Wyoming, Washington, D.C. and Alaska.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880–2025. Names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year are not listed.
Other countries
Counts are babies born that year, or living people for "all ages" rows, as published by each country's statistics office or population register.
William in other languages
- Vilhelm Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish
- Willem Dutch, French, German
- Guillaume Dutch, French
- Viljo Estonian, Finnish
- Wilhelm German, Polish
- Wiliam Polish, Welsh
- Bill English
- Guglielmo Italian
- Guilherme Portuguese
- Guillem Catalan
- Guillermo Spanish
- Gwilym Welsh
- Liam Irish
- Vilho Finnish
- Viljami Finnish
- Viljem Slovenian
- Vilmos Hungarian
- Vilém Czech
- Willam Welsh
- Williams English
- Willim English
William name days
- May 28 Norway
- April 6 Sweden
Source: Wikidata (CC0).
Storms named William
Tropical storms, hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones that have been named William, newest first.
| Storm | Year | Ocean | Peak wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyclone William (Category 1) | 1995 | South Pacific | 120 km/h |
| Cyclone William (Category 1) | 1983 | South Pacific | 148 km/h |
Source: IBTrACS, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Peak wind is the highest sustained wind recorded for the storm.
Towns named William
There are 64 towns and villages with William in their name, in 22 countries.
🇺🇸 United States 12🇿🇲 Zambia 7🇨🇦 Canada 6🇬🇧 United Kingdom 5🇲🇼 Malawi 5🇦🇺 Australia 4🇱🇷 Liberia 4🇮🇪 Ireland 3
| Name | Where | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort William | Scotland, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 15,757 | Map |
| Port William | Scotland, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 466 | Map |
| Port William | Ohio, 🇺🇸 United States | 254 | Map |
| King William | Virginia, 🇺🇸 United States | 252 | Map |
| William Bay | Western Australia, 🇦🇺 Australia | 130 | Map |
| Glen William | New South Wales, 🇦🇺 Australia | 121 | Map |
| William Creek | South Australia, 🇦🇺 Australia | 31 | Map |
| Ago-William | Ondo State, 🇳🇬 Nigeria | – | Map |
| Be William | Bomi County, 🇱🇷 Liberia | – | Map |
| Clyst William | England, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | – | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Lakes named William
There are 83 lakes and reservoirs with William in their name, in 6 countries.
🇨🇦 Canada 37🇺🇸 United States 37🇦🇺 Australia 5🇳🇿 New Zealand 2🇬🇧 United Kingdom 1🇲🇽 Mexico 1
| Name | Where | |
|---|---|---|
| Lac William | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac William | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac William | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac William | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac William | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac William | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac William | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lake William | South Australia, 🇦🇺 Australia | Map |
| Lake William | Victoria, 🇦🇺 Australia | Map |
| Lake William | Western Australia, 🇦🇺 Australia | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
William songs
36 songs and musical works on Wikidata have William in their title. The best known:
- William Tell Overture – Gioachino Rossini (1829)
- William, It Was Really Nothing – Johnny Marr (1984)
- Lord William
- Sweet William's Ghost
- Admiral William Brown – The Wolfe Tones (1983)
- Fair Margaret and Sweet William
- Songs and Proverbs of William Blake – Benjamin Britten
- William D. Revelli Composition Contest
- William Tell Overture – Mike Oldfield (1977)
- Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now) – Milton Ager (1924)
Song data: Wikidata (CC0), ordered by how widely each song is covered on Wikipedia.
Celebrities named William
Based on celebrities listed on Wikipedia, filtered to only those with the first name William.
William A. Navas, Jr.
William A. Wellman
William Agee
William Alexander
See more...
Fictional characters named William
Characters from films and TV series, from Wikidata, ordered by how widely they are covered on Wikipedia.
Character data: Wikidata (CC0). Images: Wikimedia Commons; click an image for its author and licence.
William as a pet name
FurryName has found 108 dogs named William in public pet registers, making it the #1,201 dog name there. Most of them are registered in Cambridge (7), Prospect (1), Corangamite Shire (1). William as a dog name →
FurryName has found 19 cats named William in public pet registers, making it the #307 cat name there. Most of them are registered in Toronto (11), Vancouver (3), Golden Plains Shire (2). William as a cat name →
William products
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William pillow
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