boy's name

Willem

  • Origin Dutch
  • Gender Boy
  • Syllables 2
  • Letters 6
  • Popularity Uncommon
  • Births on record 5,577

Willem is a boy's name with 2 syllables. In 2025 it was given to 51 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

  • Willem is a name of Dutch origin.
  • Peaked in 2003, when 122 babies were given the name.
  • Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
  • Today about 1 in 65,007 babies in the United States is given this name.
  • First appears in US birth records in 1916.
  • 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.

Willem over time

Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.

1,002
'10 '20 '30 '40 '50 '60 '70 '80 '90 '00 '10 '20
Show the numbers
Births named Willem by decade in the United States
Decade Births
1910s 8
1920s 18
1930s 5
1940s 5
1950s 30
1960s 71
1970s 62
1980s 112
1990s 443
2000s 1,002
2010s 743
2020s (to 2025) 341

How popular is Willem?

In 2025, Willem was given to 51 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

Where Willem is used

Canada #1,249 19 in 2024
France #2,014 15 in 2025
United States #2,583 51 in 2025
England & Wales #3,425 6 in 2025

The bar shows how near the top of each country's list the name sits, on a scale where #1 fills the row and #1,000 is a sliver. The figures beside it are the real rank and the babies recorded that year.

US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.

Names that peaked alongside Willem

These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.

Parents who like Willem also like

Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Willem over the last century — the same taste, a different name.

Willem in other languages

The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.

Catalan
Guillem
French
Wilhem
German
Wilhelm
Italian
Guglielmo
Portuguese
Guilherme
Welsh English
Willam
Other forms
Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
Bill Will Wille Gwilherm

Sibling names for Willem

Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Willem — the two things that make a sibling set grate.

Common questions about Willem

How popular is the name Willem?

In 2025, Willem was given to 51 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

Is Willem a girl's or a boy's name?

Willem is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.

How many syllables are in Willem?

Willem has 2 syllables.

When was Willem most popular?

Willem peaked in 2003, when 122 babies were given the name. Its usage has held steady over the past decade.

Is Willem a good name?

That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Willem currently ranks #1,249 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.