William Name Popularity

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How popular is William?

The uber popular name William was the 3rd Most Popular Boys Name in the United States in 2018.

This top 10 contender has enjoyed a rank in the top 50 since 1880, when the Social Security Administration began keeping records.

It reached its highest popularity RANKING of #2 for the first time in 1880 and as recently as 1920.

However, the name was bestowed upon the greatest number of babies in 1947 with 66,989 occurrences.

The least amount of newborns dubbed William in any given year was 5,990 in 1901.

Decidely upward trends in the number of babies given the name William occurred roughly during the years 1897-1900, 1910-1921, 1939-1942, and 1943-1947, whereas clearly downward trends happened around 1930-1933, 1954-1966, 1969-1976, 1989-1995, 2002-2005, 2006-2010, and 2011-2017.

Where is the name William popularity headed?

Overall, when compared to its most prominent year, the name's popularity is at a low point.

William's popularity has been moving downward for some time. In recent years, continuing the trend, the number of babies given the name William has dropped.

The name William is a huge favorite but will probably continue to drift downward in popularity.

*Mouse over the charts or scroll down to the table for data details.

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for Percentages.

		William (Girl)		William (Boy)
Year	%	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank
2018		10	10,435	14,516	3
2017		18	6,774	14,967	3
2016		20	6,373	15,761	3
2015		15	7,970	15,909	5
2014		23	5,781	16,820	5
2013		14	8,539	16,641	5
2012		19	6,847	16,885	5
2011		28	5,049	17,343	3
2010		23	5,963	17,051	5
2009		15	8,432	17,918	5
2008		28	5,270	18,391	8
2007		26	5,509	18,882	8
2006		18	7,128	18,957	10
2005		28	4,819	19,052	11
2004		111	1,743	20,225	8
2003		32	4,211	19,990	11
2002		34	3,880	20,124	11
2001		24	5,001	20,101	10
2000		38	3,521	20,661	11
1999		26	4,439	20,710	14
1998		36	3,422	20,833	14
1997		26	4,237	20,019	19
1996		41	2,958	20,541	18
1995		46	2,683	20,157	20
1994		45	2,747	21,489	19
1993		42	2,879	22,209	18
1992		60	2,237	23,066	20
1991		56	2,319	23,866	19
1990		61	2,151	24,895	16
1989		94	1,529	24,673	15
1988		164	1,003	24,126	16
1987		169	958	24,203	15
1986		165	956	24,332	15
1985		183	880	24,606	16
1984		158	934	24,905	16
1983		186	827	25,395	16
1982		178	871	25,601	15
1981		171	888	24,806	15
1980		216	765	25,654	14
1979		191	822	24,699	13
1978		187	805	24,188	13
1977		187	805	24,769	12
1976		200	739	24,446	11
1975		163	830	25,572	10
1974		169	804	26,990	10
1973		163	804	28,021	9
1972		193	729	30,529	9
1971		201	741	35,432	7
1970		204	730	38,910	7
1969		199	716	37,629	6
1968		190	708	36,956	6
1967		186	720	37,619	6
1966		180	736	38,253	6
1965		157	788	40,127	6
1964		157	836	44,240	7
1963		181	768	44,474	7
1962		175	785	44,860	7
1961		204	729	47,994	7
1960		164	812	49,350	7
1959		157	822	51,366	7
1958		161	791	54,195	6
1957		166	782	56,829	6
1956		156	798	58,957	6
1955		117	913	59,958	6
1954		129	831	61,417	6
1953		132	803	61,840	6
1952		145	739	63,047	6
1951		107	871	62,782	6
1950		126	773	60,689	6
1949		131	752	61,501	4
1948		157	668	61,965	4
1947		154	677	66,989	4
1946		157	630	60,038	4
1945		142	610	50,213	4
1944		136	629	52,369	4
1943		168	583	55,898	4
1942		170	568	54,884	4
1941		140	597	47,789	4
1940		151	564	44,768	4
1939		153	539	42,077	4
1938		138	590	42,422	4
1937		164	514	40,713	4
1936		154	523	39,386	4
1935		163	497	40,198	4
1934		175	487	40,170	4
1933		195	470	39,049	4
1932		235	429	42,117	4
1931		238	419	43,276	4
1930		289	399	47,265	4
1929		337	362	47,805	4
1928		349	368	49,117	4
1927		320	383	51,482	4
1926		303	395	51,920	4
1925		289	403	53,304	3
1924		245	445	53,511	3
1923		225	460	52,136	3
1922		194	500	51,116	3
1921		189	517	51,860	3
1920		205	477	50,149	2
1919		175	515	43,971	2
1918		172	536	45,290	2
1917		165	519	42,422	2
1916		136	576	40,419	2
1915		129	569	38,564	2
1914		97	576	29,753	2
1913		94	530	23,538	2
1912		78	554	19,626	2
1911		50	609	10,593	2
1910		37	704	8,844	3
1909		35	682	7,914	2
1908		45	562	7,528	2
1907		29	709	6,904	2
1906		28	706	6,566	2
1905		28	682	6,495	2
1904		25	709	6,416	2
1903		35	557	6,311	2
1902		25	687	6,616	2
1901		32	545	5,990	2
1900		44	514	8,579	2
1899		23	663	6,086	2
1898		41	485	7,400	2
1897		32	529	7,198	2
1896		44	439	7,747	2
1895		40	464	7,277	2
1894		34	493	7,274	2
1893		32	486	7,223	2
1892		44	405	7,782	2
1891		50	354	6,763	2
1890		34	445	7,494	2
1889		46	357	7,772	2
1888		42	371	8,705	2
1887		44	323	7,470	2
1886		35	364	8,252	2
1885		33	353	8,044	2
1884		34	340	8,897	2
1883		40	281	8,387	2
1882		31	322	9,298	2
1881		30	289	8,524	2
1880		30	287	9,532	2

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.