US baby names · Boys · 1880–2025
William: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose William for a baby boy, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
William was one of the 10 most common boys' names in the US in 118 years, between 1880 and 2025, reaching #2. Births peaked in 1947, when 67,002 baby boys were named William, so by peak year it is a Baby Boomers name.
William in the US top 10, by year
Rank among boys' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named William (1947).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1883 | 3 (1880–1882) | #2 |
| Lost Generation | 18 (1883–1900) | #2 |
| Greatest Generation | 27 (1901–1927) | #2 |
| Silent Generation | 18 (1928–1945) | #4 |
| Baby Boomers | 19 (1946–1964) | #4 |
| Generation X | 11 (1965–1975) | #6 |
| Generation Z | 6 (2001–2009) | #5 |
| Generation Alpha | 15 (2010–2024) | #3 |
| Generation Beta | 1 (2025) | #9 |
Every top-10 year
Questions people ask
When was the name William most popular?
By number of babies, in 1947, when 67,002 boys were given the name. By rank, it reached #2 and spent 118 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name William?
Its peak year, 1947, falls in Baby Boomers (1946–1964). Its 118 top-10 years fall in: before 1883 (3), Lost Generation (18), Greatest Generation (27), Silent Generation (18), Baby Boomers (19), Generation X (11), Generation Z (6), Generation Alpha (15), Generation Beta (1).
How many people have been named William?
SSA counted 4,199,696 boys named William born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named William are alive today.