dankname US baby names, counted every year since 1880

William

US babies given the name, 1880–2025, from SSA records

In 2025, 10,545 boys were named William: #9 among boys' names that year. The most boys in one year was 67,002, in 1947.

Babies named William each year

GirlsBoys
William: babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, girls and boys. Peak 1947 with 67,156.020k40k60k80k18801900192019401960198020002020

Both lines are drawn because the SSA files list William for girls and for boys; they share one scale, so the smaller line can sit close to the floor. A break in a line is a year under the SSA's 5-birth floor, not a drop to zero.

Babies in 2025Girls 7
Boys 10,545
Rank: boys #9, girls #13,115
Peak year, both sexes194767,156 babies that year (girls + boys)
Peak year by sexGirls 1928: 348
Boys 1947: 67,002
The single year with the most babies of that sex
Highest rank everGirls #281 in 1883
Boys #2 in 1880
Earliest year it reached that rank
All-time recorded births4,215,725Every listed year, 1880–2025: boys 4,199,696, girls 16,029
Years listedGirls 146 of 146
Boys 146 of 146
Years with 5 or more babies of that sex

Every year: babies and rank

YearGirlsRankBoysRank
20257#13,11510,545#9
20249#11,06710,647#10
20236#15,08110,673#10
20227#13,49511,356#6
202121#5,94012,170#6
202014#7,94612,676#5
201912#9,08513,658#4
201812#9,12714,646#3
201718#6,79215,046#3
201620#6,38915,810#3
201515#7,98815,950#5
201423#5,78616,851#5
201314#8,55416,669#5
201219#6,85816,917#5
201128#5,05617,362#3
201023#5,96917,072#5
200915#8,43917,937#5
200828#5,27118,403#8
200726#5,51818,898#8
200618#7,12918,965#10
200528#4,82419,060#11
2004111#1,74420,237#8
200332#4,21220,000#11
200234#3,88220,136#11
200124#5,00220,110#10
200038#3,52220,669#11
199926#4,44020,718#14
199836#3,42320,836#14
199726#4,23720,020#19
199641#2,95920,546#18
199546#2,68320,160#20
199445#2,75021,492#19
199342#2,88022,218#18
199260#2,23823,066#20
199156#2,31923,860#19
199061#2,15224,906#16
198994#1,53124,673#15
1988163#1,00624,126#16
1987169#95824,202#15
1986165#95724,333#15
1985183#87924,606#16
1984158#93424,900#16
1983187#82225,396#16
1982178#87025,604#15
1981171#88824,798#15
1980216#76625,639#14
1979191#82324,676#13
1978186#80724,170#13
1977187#80524,758#12
1976200#73924,428#11
1975163#83025,561#10
1974169#80326,980#10
1973163#80728,018#9
1972193#72930,510#9
1971201#74135,413#7
1970205#72838,887#7
1969199#71637,607#6
1968192#70536,927#6
1967185#72237,615#6
1966180#73538,237#6
1965157#79040,111#6
1964156#83844,224#7
1963181#76844,453#7
1962175#78544,853#7
1961204#72948,045#7
1960165#80949,361#7
1959155#82551,386#7
1958160#79554,254#6
1957168#77656,852#6
1956154#80158,991#6
1955116#91559,990#6
1954127#83761,426#6
1953131#80561,829#6
1952145#73863,039#6
1951108#86862,781#6
1950125#77660,680#6
1949131#75261,506#4
1948157#66861,972#4
1947154#67767,002#4
1946157#63060,034#4
1945142#60950,218#4
1944136#62952,375#4
1943168#58355,904#4
1942170#56754,890#4
1941140#59747,798#4
1940152#56444,779#4
1939152#54042,071#4
1938138#59042,433#4
1937164#51440,725#4
1936154#52339,398#4
1935163#49840,204#4
1934175#48740,175#4
1933195#46939,049#4
1932235#42942,124#4
1931238#41943,280#4
1930289#39947,271#4
1929337#36247,815#4
1928348#36949,118#4
1927321#38251,476#4
1926303#39551,922#4
1925289#40453,310#3
1924245#44553,506#3
1923225#46052,136#3
1922194#50051,111#3
1921189#51751,862#3
1920204#48050,146#2
1919175#51543,969#2
1918172#53645,291#2
1917165#51942,422#2
1916136#57640,418#2
1915129#56938,563#2
191497#57629,753#2
191394#53023,538#2
191278#55419,626#2
191150#60910,593#2
191037#7048,844#3
190935#6827,913#2
190845#5627,529#2
190729#7096,904#2
190628#7066,566#2
190528#6826,495#2
190425#7096,416#2
190335#5576,311#2
190225#6876,617#2
190132#5455,990#2
190044#5148,579#2
189923#6636,086#2
189841#4857,400#2
189732#5297,198#2
189644#4397,747#2
189540#4647,277#2
189434#4937,274#2
189332#4867,223#2
189244#4057,782#2
189150#3546,763#2
189034#4457,494#2
188946#3577,772#2
188842#3718,705#2
188744#3237,470#2
188635#3648,252#2
188533#3538,044#2
188434#3408,897#2
188340#2818,387#2
188231#3229,298#2
188130#2898,524#2
188030#2879,532#2

Rank among all names of that sex in that year, by the SSA's rule. “under 5 or none” is a year the SSA file does not list: fewer than 5 babies of that sex, possibly none.

Rank in each decade

DecadeGirlsBoys
2020–2025 (so far)#9,303#6
2010s#6,687#4
2000s#4,027#10
1990s#2,824#18
1980s#947#15
1970s#778#9
1960s#765#7
1950s#829#6
1940s#625#4
1930s#476#4
1920s#417#4
1910s#555#2
1900s#621#2
1890s#459#2
1880s#334#2

Rank among all names of that sex by births summed over the decade.

Years under the floor

Girls: listed in every year, 1880–2025.

Boys: listed in every year, 1880–2025.

Look up another name

About this page

Why this name has its own page

These pages are the 9 girls' and 9 boys' names given to the most babies in 2025, the newest year in the SSA file this site is built from. The build picks them from that year's file each time it runs — most births first, ties in alphabetical order, the SSA's own ranking rule — so a new SSA year can change the list. All 18 are on the list of name pages; any other name is on the front page lookup.

Where every number comes from

US Social Security Administration, "Beyond the Top 1000 Names" national data (names.zip): one text file per year of birth, 1880 to 2025, each line a name, a sex and a number of babies. The SSA address is www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/names.zip; ssa.gov refuses requests from this site's build server, so the file was taken from the Internet Archive's copy of that address, captured 2026-09-28 (14:33 UTC) and fetched 2026-09-30: web.archive.org/web/20260928143357id_/www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/names.zip. SHA-256 cd78e975ed7bb358e018dd62fbe14ced89295e9581c49172ca4eedcb011b3724.

The SSA lists a name for a sex in a year only when at least 5 babies got it, so every total here adds up the listed years only and is a floor on the true number. The file covers people with a Social Security number, so early decades count people who applied for one later in life. Spellings are separate names: this page counts “William” exactly as spelled.