How popular is the baby name William in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name William.

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Popularity of the baby name William


Posts that mention the name William

What gave the baby name Pauline a boost in 1915?

The character Pauline from the film serial "The Perils of Pauline" (1914)
Pauline from “The Perils of Pauline“

The rise of the baby name Pauline during the early decades of the 20th century accelerated in the mid-1910s. Pauline reached its highest-ever ranking in 1915, in fact:

  • 1917: 6,896 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 33rd]
  • 1916: 6,655 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 33rd]
  • 1915: 6,334 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 32nd]
  • 1914: 4,698 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 34th]
  • 1913: 3,636 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 35th]
  • 1912: 3,163 baby girls named Pauline [rank: 38th]

What was drawing attention to the name around that time?

Fictional character Pauline Marvin, protagonist of the story The Perils of Pauline, which was serialized in print and on film concurrently throughout most of 1914 (from March to December).

The co-serialization came about through a collaboration between newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and motion picture company Pathé.

Hearst had commissioned Charles Goddard to write the story, in which the main character, a young heiress, set out to “have thrills, adventures, see people, [and] do daring things” before settling down with her sweetheart, Harry. Pauline’s escapades kept going awry, though, due to the scheming of a murderous man intent on stealing her fortune.

The serial’s twenty installments were released biweekly — every other Sunday in the newspapers, and every other Monday in the motion picture houses.

Notably, marketing for the serial included a weekly contest in which Hearst newspaper readers could win sizeable cash prizes for correctly guessing upcoming plot twists.

"The Perils of Pauline" advertisement (Mar. 1914)
“The Perils of Pauline” advertisement

The motion picture version of The Perils of Pauline quickly became the most famous of all movie serials. It didn’t utilize cliffhangers to the degree that The Adventures of Kathlyn did, but each episode featured exciting footage such as “the wrecking of a real aeroplane” (in episode 2), a ride in a sabotaged hot air balloon (episode 6), a car crash during a cross-country automobile race (episode 15), and an escape from a sunken submarine (episode 18).

The star of the picture was Missouri-born actress Pearl White, who performed most of her own stunts. The worldwide success of The Perils of Pauline turned White into one of the first international movie stars.

What are your thoughts on the name Pauline? (Do you like it more or less than Pearl?)

P.S. The Perils of Pauline was published as a standalone book in early 1915.

Sources:

Images: Screenshot of The Perils of Pauline (1914), clipping from the New York Times (14 Mar. 1914)

What gave the baby name Kathlyn a boost in 1914?

The character Kathlyn from the film serial "The Adventures of Kathlyn" (1913)
Kathlyn from “The Adventures of Kathlyn“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Kathlyn saw a steep rise in usage in the mid-1910s:

  • 1916: 86 baby girls named Kathlyn [rank: 731st]
  • 1915: 108 baby girls named Kathlyn [rank: 633rd]
  • 1914: 101 baby girls named Kathlyn [rank: 559th]
  • 1913: 28 baby girls named Kathlyn
  • 1912: 12 baby girls named Kathlyn

Why?

Because of fictional character Kathlyn Hare, protagonist of the story The Adventures of Kathlyn. She was a young American woman who traveled to India to rescue her father, a wild animal collector.

William N. Selig, founder of the Chicago-based motion picture company Selig Polyscope, had commissioned novelist Harold MacGrath to write the tale.

It was serialized in print and on the big screen concurrently, from the very end of 1913 until June of 1914, thanks to an innovative collaboration between Selig Polyscope and the Chicago Tribune newspaper.

"The Adventures of Kathlyn" by Harold MacGrath
“The Adventures of Kathlyn“

In the newspapers — the Tribune as well as dozens of affiliated papers across the country — a new chapter of The Adventures of Kathlyn was released every week, on Sunday, for 26 weeks.* The chapters were illustrated with films stills and sketches.

In the movie theaters, 13 installments of The Adventures of Kathlyn were released in two-week increments. Notably, at the end of each installment, Kathlyn was left “in some dangerous predicament designed to lure the audience back to see how she would extricate herself.” Cliffhangers — utilized for the very first time (by American filmmakers) in The Adventures of Kathlyn — went on to become a defining feature of motion picture serials.

The film’s heroine was portrayed by, and named after, Selig player Kathlyn Williams (born Kathleen Mabel Williams in Montana in 1879). Its exotic animals (leopards, lions, and elephants, and more) came from William Selig’s extensive animal collection.

Kathlyn Williams Perfume advertisement
Kathlyn Williams Perfume advertisement

The partnership between the newspaper and the motion picture company proved very successful. “Chicago Tribune Sunday circulation jumped almost 80,000, while the motion picture theaters showing Kathlyn were packed.”

As a result, Kathlyn Williams’ name and likeness were used to promote a variety of products (including a perfume, a face powder, a shirtwaist, a waltz, a cocktail, a cigar, and a “watch charm for single men”) throughout 1914, continuing to draw attention to the name Kathlyn even after the synchronized serializations had ended.

What are your thoughts on the name Kathlyn?

*The 26 chapters of The Adventures of Kathlyn were finally published as a standalone book in June of 1914.

Sources:

Images Clippings from Photoplay Magazine (Apr. 1914), Chicago Sunday Tribune (31 May 1914), and Photoplay Magazine (Sept. 1914)

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2024

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

Last year, the countries of England and Wales together welcomed 594,677 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Muhammad.

Here are England and Wales’ top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 2,761 baby girls
  2. Amelia, 2,448
  3. Lily, 2,185
  4. Isla, 2,056
  5. Ivy, 1,956
  6. Florence, 1,936
  7. Freya, 1,929
  8. Poppy, 1,888
  9. Ava, 1,774
  10. Elsie, 1,727
  11. Isabella, 1,708
  12. Sofia, 1,626
  13. Sophia, 1,610
  14. Mia, 1,609
  15. Maya, 1,592
  16. Bonnie, 1,583
  17. Phoebe, 1,549
  18. Daisy, 1,548
  19. Sienna, 1,537
  20. Evelyn, 1,512
  21. Willow, 1,481
  22. Harper, 1,461
  23. Charlotte, 1,418
  24. Rosie, 1,406
  25. Grace, 1,390
  26. Maeve, 1,265
  27. Millie, 1,255
  28. Margot, 1,243
  29. Evie, 1,231
  30. Arabella, 1,222
  31. Matilda, 1,220
  32. Hallie, 1,218
  33. Delilah, 1,180
  34. Emily, 1,170
  35. Aria, 1,154
  36. Penelope, 1,133
  37. Mabel, 1,113
  38. Lottie, 1,109
  39. Ella, 1,108
  40. Ada, 1,049
  41. Ruby, 1,020
  42. Violet, 1,010
  43. Aurora, 1,002
  44. Maisie, 992
  45. Emilia, 961
  46. Mila, 953
  47. Ayla, 922
  48. Luna, 908
  49. Alice, 896
  50. Sophie, 886

Boy names

  1. Muhammad, 5,721 baby boys
  2. Noah, 4,139
  3. Oliver, 3,492
  4. Arthur, 3,368
  5. Leo, 3,324
  6. George, 3,257
  7. Luca, 2,814
  8. Theodore, 2,761
  9. Oscar, 2,747
  10. Archie, 2,575
  11. Jude, 2,540
  12. Theo, 2,387
  13. Freddie, 2,369
  14. Henry, 2,360
  15. Arlo, 2,220
  16. Alfie, 2,020
  17. Charlie, 1,956
  18. Finley, 1,886
  19. Albie, 1,820
  20. Harry, 1,765
  21. Mohammed, 1,760
  22. Jack, 1,711
  23. Elijah, 1,661
  24. Rory, 1,588
  25. Lucas, 1,550
  26. Thomas, 1,543
  27. William, 1,517
  28. Louie, 1,516
  29. Teddy, 1,506
  30. Jacob, 1,484
  31. Edward, 1,461
  32. Roman, 1,454
  33. Reuben, 1,442
  34. Oakley, 1,432
  35. Adam, 1,410
  36. Alexander, 1,365
  37. Isaac, 1,360
  38. Ezra, 1,339
  39. Tommy, 1,324
  40. James, 1,252
  41. Rowan, 1,246
  42. Hudson, 1,216
  43. Reggie, 1,194
  44. Max, 1,140
  45. Sebastian, 1,116
  46. Hugo, 1,094
  47. Louis, 1,092
  48. Ethan, 1,086
  49. Ronnie, 1,059
  50. Joshua, 1,027

In the girls’ top 10, Poppy and Elsie replaced Willow and Isabella.

In the boys’ top 10, Archie replaced Henry.

At the other end of the spectrum I spotted Bryher (given to 5 baby girls), no doubt inspired by Bryher Island, located off the coast of Cornwall.

And, speaking of rare names, here’s a selection of those that were given to just three babies each in England and Wales (combined) in last year:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Ascia, Barley, Clementina, Drashti, Euphemia, Fodhla, Gwenlli, Hyacinth, Isidora, Jindh, Kanak, Letizia, Migle, Ngoc, Olayinka, Pearly, Quinnie, Rennala, Sorella, Tirion, Unathi, Valora, Wallis, Xanthi, Yuet, ZhilaAelfred, Bramwell, Canelo, Doulton, Erling, Ferdia, Gursimran, Horace, Iorwerth, Jolyon, Kenshin, Llywelyn, Mawgan, Nikunj, Ozair, Penuel, Quintus, Rudolph, Shabsi, Teifion, Ugnius, Vishvam, Western, Xyleek, Ynyr, Zaroon

Some facts/thoughts about a few of the above…

  • Canelo is the Spanish word for “cinnamon.” (It’s also used as a nickname for a redheaded person.)
  • Erling is the first name of Norwegian soccer player Erling Haaland (who currently plays for Manchester City).
  • Gwenlli is a short form of the Welsh name Gwenllian.
  • Migle is based on the Lithuanian word migla, meaning “mist.”
  • Teifion may be based on the name of the River Teifi in Wales.
  • Xyleek, which debuted impressively in the U.S. data last year, may have been inspired by a TikTok video.
  • Ynyr is the Welsh form of the Latin name Honorius.

Finally, here are the 2024 rankings for Scotland and Northern Ireland — the other two countries in the United Kingdom — and the 2023 rankings for England and Wales, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

How did “Good Will Hunting” influence baby names?

The characters Skylar and Will from the movie "Good Will Hunting" (1997)
Skylar and Will from “Good Will Hunting“

The protagonist of the movie Good Will Hunting, which was released in December of 1997, was a young man from South Boston named Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon).

Will Hunting saw “nothing wrong with spending his whole life hanging out with his friends, quaffing a few beers, holding down a blue-collar job.”

The problem? He was also a self-taught mathematical genius with a photographic memory.

So several people in his life — including his best friend Chuckie (Ben Affleck), his psychotherapist Sean (Robin Williams), and his girlfriend Skylar (Minnie Driver) — pushed him to rise above his troubled past and embrace his gifts. As Chuckie put it, Will was “sitting on a winning lottery ticket” — he just had to find the courage to cash it in.

Good Will Hunting became one of the highest-grossing films of 1998. It also won a pair of Academy Awards: one for Best Supporting Actor (Williams), the other for Best Original Screenplay (Damon and Affleck).

So how did the movie affect the baby name charts?

The usage of Will, which was the only name used to refer to the main character (i.e., he was never called William), increased in 1998:

  • 2000: 447 baby boys named Will [rank: 510th]
  • 1999: 422 baby boys named Will [rank: 506th]
  • 1998: 339 baby boys named Will [rank: 578th]
  • 1997: 268 baby boys named Will [rank: 634th]
  • 1996: 280 baby boys named Will [rank: 622nd]

And the slow rise of Skylar for baby girls accelerated noticeably the same year:

Girls named SkylarBoys named Skylar
20002,503 [rank: 135th]748 [rank: 356th]
19992,513 [rank: 131st]695 [rank: 374th]
19981,731 [rank: 173rd]730 [rank: 358th]
1997953 [rank: 302nd]657 [rank: 372nd]
1996855 [rank: 328th]636 [rank: 373rd]

(The names Wil, Skyler, and Skyla also saw higher usage in 1998.)

Matt Damon wrote the first draft of the script for Good Will Hunting while attending Harvard College in the early ’90s. He based the character of Skylar, a pre-med student at Harvard, on his then-girlfriend, Skylar Satenstein, a former pre-med student at Harvard. (She’d since become a med student at Columbia.)

Incidentally, Satenstein went on the marry Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich (son of Torben Ulrich) in early 1997. Later the same year, Lars and Skylar attended the local premiere of Good Will Hunting together in New York City.

P.S. The movie was shot during the spring of 1997, which overlapped with the end of my own freshman year at Harvard. I remember other students saying they’d spotted a film crew in the area during those months.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Good Will Hunting