The first name William

Discover the meaning and origin of the first name William, its history and its evolution in baptism records preserved in Genealogy Quebec’s collections.

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About the first name William

Meaning

The name William is the English form of Guillaume and combines “will” with “protection”.

Historical origin

The name William comes from Germanic Willahelm through Norman and English forms.

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In Quebec, William appears notably in Anglophone, Irish, and Scottish families and in communities where several language traditions met.

Pronunciation:w-ilyemwɪljəm

Frequency of the first name William by baptism year

The chart below shows the frequency of the first name William by the year of baptisms listed in Genealogy Quebec’s data. It highlights the periods when this first name appears most often and its evolution across generations.

3,187total mentions

Annual evolution of the first name WilliamLine chart showing the frequency of the first name William in baptisms by year.50037525012501765181418631912196120101765–1769 1 baptisms1770–1774 1 baptisms1775–1779 1 baptisms1785–1789 3 baptisms1790–1794 6 baptisms1795–1799 6 baptisms1800–1804 10 baptisms1805–1809 9 baptisms1810–1814 11 baptisms1815–1819 16 baptisms1820–1824 38 baptisms1825–1829 57 baptisms1830–1834 153 baptisms1835–1839 189 baptisms1840–1844 245 baptisms1845–1849 208 baptisms1850–1854 239 baptisms1855–1859 259 baptisms1860–1864 329 baptisms1865–1869 235 baptisms1870–1874 186 baptisms1875–1879 159 baptisms1880–1884 128 baptisms1885–1889 118 baptisms1890–1894 86 baptisms1895–1899 65 baptisms1900–1904 44 baptisms1905–1909 38 baptisms1910–1914 28 baptisms1915–1919 29 baptisms1920–1924 26 baptisms1925–1929 28 baptisms1930–1934 20 baptisms1935–1939 28 baptisms1940–1944 15 baptisms1945–1949 11 baptisms1950–1954 5 baptisms1955–1959 6 baptisms1960–1964 3 baptisms1965–1969 2 baptisms1970–1974 3 baptisms1975–1979 2 baptisms1980–1984 1 baptisms1985–1989 6 baptisms1990–1994 15 baptisms1995–1999 48 baptisms2000–2004 44 baptisms2005–2009 23 baptisms2010–2014 4 baptisms

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