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William vs Wilmar

American parents have registered 4,215,725 Williams since 1880, against 613 Wilmars. William is still ahead, with 10,552 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: William against Wilmar, 1880 to 2025 0 20k 40k 60k 80k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

William Wilmar

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

William has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 2022, when William had 11,363 and Wilmar had 11.

Side by side

  William Wilmar
Total US births 4,215,725613
Most in one year 67,15623
Babies in 2025 10,5527
Estimated living today 2.2 million260
Median age today 5520
Peak year 19471919
Best rank 4th boys1,576th boys
Rank in 2025 9th9,714th
First recorded 18801912
Girls / boys 16,029 / 4,199,69616 / 597

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Williams alive today are over 55; half the Wilmars are over 20. That is 35 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: William and Wilmar.