Thirty years of William
William in numbers
William peaked in 1999 with 5,287 boys and has fallen since, to 1,456 in 2025. Its biggest three-year fall came between 2017 and 2020, from 3,437 to 2,215. It ranked 21st in 1996, reached 7th in 2006 and ranks 25th now. On average it was given to 4,734 boys a year in the late 1990s, 4,997 in the 2000s, 3,990 in the 2010s and 1,772 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
Similar spellings in the 2025 list†: Willem (6), Wiliam (3). Matched by their letters, not by meaning or origin. ONS counts each spelling separately, so these are not added to William.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year-4%1,517 to 1,456
- 5 years-34%2,215 to 1,456
- 10 years-64%4,083 to 1,456
- 20 years-71%5,106 to 1,456
- Since 1996-66%4,269 to 1,456
- Total, 1996 to 2025119,438boys
† All changes and totals are Baby Data calculations from ONS counts. A total adds only the published years.
Across the three nations, 2025
Each from its own statistics office, never added togetherRank 25 · ONS · 1,517 in 2024
Rank 52 · NRS · 77 in 2024
Rank 59 · NISRA · 40 in 2024
England and Wales (ONS) count births in the calendar year; Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland (NISRA) count births registered in the year. Each comes from its own statistics office and they are never added together.
Year by year, 1996 to 2025 Show all 30 yearsHide the table
| Year | Rank | Babies | Change† | 1 in X† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 25 | 1,456 | -4% | 1 in 207 |
| 2024 | 27 | 1,517 | -2% | 1 in 201 |
| 2023 | 29 | 1,544 | -15% | 1 in 196 |
| 2022 | 24 | 1,806 | -14% | 1 in 172 |
| 2021 | 21 | 2,093 | -6% | 1 in 153 |
| 2020 | 20 | 2,215 | -17% | 1 in 142 |
| 2019 | 17 | 2,667 | -12% | 1 in 123 |
| 2018 | 14 | 3,015 | -12% | 1 in 112 |
| 2017 | 11 | 3,437 | -10% | 1 in 101 |
| 2016 * | 11 | 3,819 | -6% | 1 in 93 |
| 2015 | 8 | 4,083 | -1% | 1 in 88 |
| 2014 | 10 | 4,134 | -3% | 1 in 86 |
| 2013 | 8 | 4,268 | -7% | 1 in 84 |
| 2012 | 9 | 4,590 | -1% | 1 in 82 |
| 2011 | 10 | 4,632 | -12% | 1 in 80 |
| 2010 | 7 | 5,256 | +0% | 1 in 71 |
| 2009 | 8 | 5,247 | +2% | 1 in 69 |
| 2008 | 10 | 5,169 | +0% | 1 in 70 |
| 2007 | 8 | 5,148 | +5% | 1 in 69 |
| 2006 | 7 | 4,886 | -4% | 1 in 70 |
| 2005 | 8 | 5,106 | -2% | 1 in 65 |
| 2004 | 8 | 5,212 | +6% | 1 in 63 |
| 2003 | 9 | 4,904 | -3% | 1 in 65 |
| 2002 | 9 | 5,037 | +13% | 1 in 61 |
| 2001 | 13 | 4,459 | -7% | 1 in 68 |
| 2000 | 12 | 4,804 | -9% | 1 in 64 |
| 1999 | 10 | 5,287 | +8% | 1 in 60 |
| 1998 | 14 | 4,879 | +8% | 1 in 67 |
| 1997 | 19 | 4,499 | +5% | 1 in 73 |
| 1996 | 21 | 4,269 | 1 in 78 |
* ONS’s boys’ 2016 file repeats the October total as September, so the 2016 births total is about 932 too low and 1 in X for 2016 is slightly too low. Rank follows ONS: names with the same count share a rank (shown with =). “Under 3” means the name was given to fewer than 3 babies that year, so ONS did not publish it.
Compare William
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
William is in the free dataset (CSV and JSON), with the method and how to cite it.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; National Records of Scotland; NISRA. Exact spellings are counted separately and names given to fewer than 3 babies are not published. Figures marked † are Baby Data calculations. How we calculate
William is in our lists: Royal baby names.