Willam
Willam was given to 5 boys in 2025, #13,794 among boys’ names; 3,516 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,420 Americans named Willam and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (40% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 52 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Willam by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Willam?
#13,794 among boys’ names, 2025
Willam rose from #13,937 in 2015 to #13,794 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 2.6 to 2.9 per million.
76 babies in 1959, the peak
Willam peaked in 1959, when 76 boys were given it, #886 among boys’ names. The 5 births of 2025 are 7% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #13,794 | under 0.01 |
| 2024 | 6 | #12,264 | under 0.01 |
| 2022 | 6 | #12,244 | under 0.01 |
| 2021 | 5 | #13,962 | under 0.01 |
| 2016 | 7 | #10,675 | under 0.01 |
| 2015 | 5 | #13,937 | under 0.01 |
| 2014 | 6 | #12,028 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 10 | #8,071 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 7 | #10,704 | under 0.01 |
| 2011 | 7 | #10,718 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (124)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 5 | #14,409 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 8 | #9,822 | under 0.01 |
| 2006 | 11 | #7,395 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 8 | #8,884 | under 0.01 |
| 2002 | 12 | #6,065 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 8 | #8,303 | under 0.01 |
| 2000 | 9 | #7,377 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 7 | #8,075 | under 0.01 |
| 1995 | 5 | #10,274 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 9 | #5,588 | under 0.01 |
| 1988 | 14 | #3,697 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 13 | #3,716 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 13 | #3,645 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 12 | #3,795 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 20 | #2,525 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 13 | #3,403 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 19 | #2,593 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 15 | #3,024 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 16 | #2,960 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 12 | #3,558 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 13 | #3,209 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 15 | #2,907 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 25 | #1,995 | 0.02 |
| 1975 | 18 | #2,447 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 14 | #2,794 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 23 | #1,925 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 20 | #2,077 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 17 | #2,364 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 24 | #1,845 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 27 | #1,602 | 0.02 |
| 1968 | 20 | #1,832 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 29 | #1,446 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 44 | #1,129 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 32 | #1,382 | 0.02 |
| 1964 | 40 | #1,233 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 53 | #1,050 | 0.03 |
| 1962 | 45 | #1,169 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 67 | #938 | 0.03 |
| 1960 | 63 | #961 | 0.03 |
| 1959 | 76 | #886 | 0.04 |
| 1958 | 61 | #976 | 0.03 |
| 1957 | 61 | #979 | 0.03 |
| 1956 | 62 | #952 | 0.03 |
| 1955 | 51 | #1,064 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 53 | #1,037 | 0.03 |
| 1953 | 58 | #948 | 0.03 |
| 1952 | 39 | #1,191 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 49 | #1,015 | 0.03 |
| 1950 | 39 | #1,166 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 46 | #1,045 | 0.03 |
| 1948 | 37 | #1,192 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 45 | #1,091 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 46 | #1,018 | 0.03 |
| 1945 | 66 | #760 | 0.05 |
| 1944 | 58 | #830 | 0.04 |
| 1943 | 57 | #892 | 0.04 |
| 1942 | 53 | #922 | 0.04 |
| 1941 | 59 | #833 | 0.05 |
| 1940 | 51 | #892 | 0.04 |
| 1939 | 54 | #835 | 0.05 |
| 1938 | 39 | #1,042 | 0.04 |
| 1937 | 46 | #931 | 0.04 |
| 1936 | 53 | #843 | 0.05 |
| 1935 | 45 | #955 | 0.04 |
| 1934 | 41 | #1,023 | 0.04 |
| 1933 | 54 | #851 | 0.05 |
| 1932 | 59 | #834 | 0.06 |
| 1931 | 59 | #824 | 0.06 |
| 1930 | 60 | #854 | 0.05 |
| 1929 | 67 | #793 | 0.06 |
| 1928 | 59 | #871 | 0.05 |
| 1927 | 60 | #883 | 0.05 |
| 1926 | 51 | #962 | 0.05 |
| 1925 | 57 | #899 | 0.05 |
| 1924 | 63 | #871 | 0.06 |
| 1923 | 51 | #974 | 0.05 |
| 1922 | 60 | #904 | 0.06 |
| 1921 | 49 | #1,008 | 0.04 |
| 1920 | 43 | #1,088 | 0.04 |
| 1919 | 34 | #1,229 | 0.03 |
| 1918 | 39 | #1,111 | 0.04 |
| 1917 | 37 | #1,111 | 0.04 |
| 1916 | 31 | #1,204 | 0.03 |
| 1915 | 32 | #1,157 | 0.04 |
| 1914 | 28 | #1,097 | 0.04 |
| 1913 | 19 | #1,204 | 0.04 |
| 1912 | 15 | #1,261 | 0.03 |
| 1911 | 11 | #1,115 | 0.05 |
| 1910 | 10 | #1,114 | 0.05 |
| 1909 | 10 | #1,018 | 0.06 |
| 1908 | 12 | #822 | 0.08 |
| 1906 | 10 | #850 | 0.08 |
| 1904 | 9 | #873 | 0.07 |
| 1903 | 6 | #1,125 | 0.05 |
| 1902 | 8 | #930 | 0.07 |
| 1900 | 7 | #1,157 | 0.05 |
| 1898 | 10 | #742 | 0.08 |
| 1897 | 7 | #939 | 0.06 |
| 1896 | 10 | #777 | 0.08 |
| 1895 | 7 | #972 | 0.06 |
| 1893 | 14 | #536 | 0.12 |
| 1892 | 13 | #594 | 0.11 |
| 1891 | 11 | #595 | 0.11 |
| 1890 | 6 | #991 | 0.05 |
| 1889 | 9 | #720 | 0.08 |
| 1888 | 11 | #646 | 0.09 |
| 1887 | 8 | #749 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 13 | #537 | 0.12 |
| 1885 | 9 | #696 | 0.08 |
| 1884 | 11 | #609 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 9 | #675 | 0.09 |
| 1882 | 8 | #751 | 0.07 |
| 1881 | 10 | #592 | 0.10 |
| 1880 | 13 | #525 | 0.12 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Willam a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Willam has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 124 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Willam: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Willam, and how old are they?
1,420 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 40% of the 3,516 Americans ever recorded as Willam. The median Willam alive today is 65 years old; half are between 52 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 6,497 people named Willam (30 women and girls, 6,467 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,656 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3.9 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 190 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 663 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 304 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 125 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 81 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 50 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 4,225,638 babies since 1880, Willam is the second most given (<1% of them). In 2025 it was given to 5 of their 10,628 babies (<1%), the fifth most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Willam
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Willam and names like it
- Compare Willam and WilliamBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sWillam peaked in 1959.
- Tennessee’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Willam since 1910.
- The top names of 1959The year the most babies were named Willam.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Willam alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with WMost given first.