William
Boy name · Germanic · pronounced WILL-yuhm
Verified name
What does William mean?
Resolute protector
Origin and language
Germanic, Old French
Language family: English|German
Popularity in the United States
Ranked No. 9 in the U.S. in 2025, so it is very popular. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration data.
Popularity in England and Wales
No. 25 in England and Wales in 2025
Contains Office for National Statistics data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Related names, nicknames, and variants
Nickname: Will, Bill, Billy, Liam, Wills
Variant: Wilhelm, Guillaume
Related: Willem, Guillermo
Using William across cultures
Standard classic across Germanic and Romance languages.
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