Williams
Williams was given to 40 boys in 2025, #3,085 among boys’ names; 6,150 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 3,610 Americans named Williams and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (59% of everyone recorded); the median is 38 years old and half are between 20 and 62.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Williams by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Williams?
#3,085 among boys’ names, 2025
Williams fell from #2,718 in 2015 to #3,085 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 23.5 to 23.4 per million.
86 babies in 1950, the peak
Williams peaked in 1950, when 86 boys were given it, #745 among boys’ names. The 40 births of 2025 are 47% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 40 | #3,085 | 0.02 |
| 2024 | 53 | #2,553 | 0.03 |
| 2023 | 57 | #2,414 | 0.03 |
| 2022 | 40 | #3,093 | 0.02 |
| 2021 | 46 | #2,771 | 0.03 |
| 2020 | 37 | #3,133 | 0.02 |
| 2019 | 45 | #2,803 | 0.03 |
| 2018 | 52 | #2,503 | 0.03 |
| 2017 | 42 | #2,887 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 36 | #3,225 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 45 | #2,718 | 0.02 |
| 2014 | 38 | #3,034 | 0.02 |
| 2013 | 40 | #2,891 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 47 | #2,628 | 0.02 |
| 2011 | 45 | #2,697 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 36 | #3,178 | 0.02 |
| 2009 | 56 | #2,346 | 0.03 |
| 2008 | 68 | #2,058 | 0.03 |
| 2007 | 63 | #2,162 | 0.03 |
| 2006 | 57 | #2,246 | 0.03 |
| 2005 | 53 | #2,260 | 0.03 |
| 2004 | 52 | #2,232 | 0.03 |
| 2003 | 58 | #2,000 | 0.03 |
| 2002 | 62 | #1,845 | 0.03 |
| 2001 | 63 | #1,794 | 0.03 |
| 2000 | 48 | #2,128 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 53 | #1,875 | 0.03 |
| 1998 | 42 | #2,193 | 0.02 |
| 1997 | 47 | #1,959 | 0.02 |
| 1996 | 46 | #1,953 | 0.02 |
| 1995 | 29 | #2,619 | 0.02 |
| 1994 | 51 | #1,747 | 0.03 |
| 1993 | 59 | #1,548 | 0.03 |
| 1992 | 54 | #1,634 | 0.03 |
| 1991 | 44 | #1,816 | 0.02 |
| 1990 | 69 | #1,347 | 0.03 |
| 1989 | 39 | #1,912 | 0.02 |
| 1988 | 44 | #1,639 | 0.02 |
| 1987 | 47 | #1,530 | 0.03 |
| 1986 | 43 | #1,563 | 0.02 |
| 1985 | 33 | #1,832 | 0.02 |
| 1984 | 35 | #1,687 | 0.02 |
| 1983 | 33 | #1,745 | 0.02 |
| 1982 | 44 | #1,462 | 0.02 |
| 1981 | 29 | #1,939 | 0.02 |
| 1980 | 36 | #1,653 | 0.02 |
| 1979 | 33 | #1,751 | 0.02 |
| 1978 | 37 | #1,569 | 0.02 |
| 1977 | 28 | #1,857 | 0.02 |
| 1976 | 43 | #1,371 | 0.03 |
| 1975 | 42 | #1,360 | 0.03 |
| 1974 | 45 | #1,267 | 0.03 |
| 1973 | 33 | #1,512 | 0.02 |
| 1972 | 46 | #1,229 | 0.03 |
| 1971 | 58 | #1,080 | 0.03 |
| 1970 | 39 | #1,348 | 0.02 |
| 1969 | 52 | #1,084 | 0.03 |
| 1968 | 46 | #1,118 | 0.03 |
| 1967 | 45 | #1,115 | 0.03 |
| 1966 | 47 | #1,089 | 0.03 |
| 1965 | 54 | #1,011 | 0.03 |
| 1964 | 46 | #1,145 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 56 | #1,018 | 0.03 |
| 1962 | 45 | #1,170 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 66 | #947 | 0.03 |
| 1960 | 53 | #1,069 | 0.02 |
| 1959 | 60 | #1,002 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 59 | #999 | 0.03 |
| 1957 | 65 | #942 | 0.03 |
| 1956 | 58 | #984 | 0.03 |
| 1955 | 75 | #853 | 0.04 |
| 1954 | 50 | #1,066 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 51 | #1,023 | 0.03 |
| 1952 | 46 | #1,079 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 56 | #941 | 0.03 |
| 1950 | 86 | #745 | 0.05 |
| 1949 | 64 | #863 | 0.04 |
| 1948 | 59 | #900 | 0.03 |
| 1947 | 60 | #904 | 0.03 |
| 1946 | 64 | #825 | 0.04 |
| 1945 | 48 | #942 | 0.04 |
| 1944 | 54 | #869 | 0.04 |
| 1943 | 50 | #954 | 0.04 |
| 1942 | 54 | #909 | 0.04 |
| 1941 | 47 | #937 | 0.04 |
| 1940 | 73 | #717 | 0.06 |
| 1939 | 50 | #886 | 0.05 |
| 1938 | 51 | #881 | 0.05 |
| 1937 | 57 | #816 | 0.05 |
| 1936 | 41 | #988 | 0.04 |
| 1935 | 64 | #777 | 0.06 |
| 1934 | 56 | #843 | 0.05 |
| 1933 | 42 | #994 | 0.04 |
| 1932 | 57 | #851 | 0.05 |
| 1931 | 55 | #868 | 0.05 |
| 1930 | 74 | #742 | 0.07 |
| 1929 | 58 | #877 | 0.05 |
| 1928 | 66 | #813 | 0.06 |
| 1927 | 68 | #810 | 0.06 |
| 1926 | 68 | #802 | 0.06 |
| 1925 | 47 | #1,011 | 0.04 |
| 1924 | 65 | #858 | 0.06 |
| 1923 | 54 | #940 | 0.05 |
| 1922 | 53 | #975 | 0.05 |
| 1921 | 51 | #990 | 0.05 |
| 1920 | 73 | #784 | 0.07 |
| 1919 | 45 | #1,022 | 0.05 |
| 1918 | 55 | #901 | 0.05 |
| 1917 | 44 | #996 | 0.05 |
| 1916 | 55 | #855 | 0.06 |
| 1915 | 53 | #854 | 0.06 |
| 1914 | 45 | #794 | 0.07 |
| 1913 | 21 | #1,145 | 0.04 |
| 1912 | 31 | #799 | 0.07 |
| 1911 | 22 | #688 | 0.10 |
| 1910 | 15 | #821 | 0.08 |
| 1909 | 20 | #612 | 0.12 |
| 1908 | 18 | #630 | 0.12 |
| 1907 | 11 | #861 | 0.07 |
| 1906 | 12 | #751 | 0.09 |
| 1905 | 12 | #740 | 0.09 |
| 1904 | 15 | #611 | 0.12 |
| 1903 | 9 | #844 | 0.08 |
| 1902 | 11 | #739 | 0.09 |
| 1901 | 11 | #681 | 0.10 |
| 1900 | 15 | #678 | 0.10 |
| 1899 | 9 | #783 | 0.08 |
| 1898 | 12 | #660 | 0.10 |
| 1897 | 14 | #583 | 0.12 |
| 1896 | 9 | #823 | 0.08 |
| 1895 | 10 | #737 | 0.09 |
| 1894 | 12 | #629 | 0.10 |
| 1893 | 7 | #902 | 0.06 |
| 1892 | 16 | #524 | 0.13 |
| 1891 | 7 | #836 | 0.07 |
| 1890 | 10 | #666 | 0.09 |
| 1889 | 6 | #970 | 0.05 |
| 1888 | 9 | #754 | 0.07 |
| 1887 | 13 | #515 | 0.13 |
| 1886 | 13 | #538 | 0.12 |
| 1885 | 11 | #603 | 0.10 |
| 1884 | 11 | #610 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 13 | #525 | 0.12 |
| 1882 | 7 | #834 | 0.06 |
| 1881 | 7 | #777 | 0.07 |
| 1880 | 11 | #599 | 0.10 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Williams a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Williams has been given almost only to boys: 24 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Williams: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Williams, and how old are they?
3,610 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 59% of the 6,150 Americans ever recorded as Williams. The median Williams alive today is 38 years old; half are between 20 and 62.
The 2020 Census counted 8,123 people named Williams (493 women and girls, 7,630 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 3,654 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.2 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 | 185 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 738 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 612 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 670 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 836 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 567 |
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).
Where are babies named Williams born?
The states with the most babies named Williams are Mississippi, California and Texas, with 45% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Mississippi is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 381 | not ranked | 4.3× |
| California | 361 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Texas | 345 | #2,070 | 0.8× |
| Georgia | 311 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| Alabama | 198 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Florida | 179 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| North Carolina | 166 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| New York | 155 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Louisiana | 112 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| South Carolina | 64 | not ranked | 0.7× |
Where Williams is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Williams is most over-represented in Mississippi: since 1910 it was given 4.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Williams with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Williams
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 Williams and names like it
- Compare Williams and UlyssesBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sWilliams peaked in 1950.
- Mississippi’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Williams since 1910.
- The top names of 1950The year the most babies were named Williams.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Williams alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with WMost given first.