Wilhem
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protector".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Wilhem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wilhem today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wilhem births was 1997 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wilhem. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Wilhem. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1997
5 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2007 SSA rank
#14,303
Tracked since 1997
Census
Wilhem in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 151 people with the first name Wilhem, which placed it at #45,179 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#45,179
National first-name rank
People counted
151
151 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
32.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wilhem
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilhem is Hispanic at 32.5%. The next largest groups are Black (29.8%) and White (29.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Wilhem described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Wilhem at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino32.5% · 49
- Black or African American29.8% · 45
- White29.1% · 44
- Two or more races4.6% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Wilhem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wilhem from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wilhem by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Wilhem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wilhem
The name Wilhem is a Germanic name derived from the Old German words "wil" meaning "will" or "desire," and "helm" meaning "helmet" or "protection." It was originally a compound name bestowed upon male children, implying strength, determination, and resilience under protection.
The name gained prominence in the 8th century during the reign of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor. Several of Charlemagne's trusted advisors and warriors bore the name Wilhem, suggesting its association with bravery and loyalty. One notable example was Wilhem, Duke of Aquitaine, a powerful nobleman who lived from 755 to 812.
In the 11th century, the name Wilhem appeared in the epic poem "The Song of Roland," a celebrated work of Old French literature. The poem recounts the heroic deeds of a Frankish knight named Roland, who served under the command of Charlemagne's nephew, Wilhem. This literary reference further solidified the name's association with valor and chivalry.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Wilhem was popular among the European nobility and ruling classes. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Wilhem the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy who became the first Norman king of England after his victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Another notable figure was Wilhem von Ockham, a 14th-century Franciscan friar and philosopher renowned for his influential contributions to logic and metaphysics. His name has become synonymous with the principle known as "Occam's Razor," which states that the simplest explanation is often the most accurate.
During the Renaissance, the name Wilhem continued to be favored by the European aristocracy. Wilhem V, Prince of Orange, who lived from 1548 to 1618, played a crucial role in the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule, earning him the nickname "Father of the Fatherland."
In later centuries, the name Wilhem gained a more widespread popularity beyond the nobility. Wilhem Grimm, born in 1786, was a renowned German philologist and author, best known for the beloved collection of fairy tales he compiled with his brother Jacob, known as the Brothers Grimm.
People
Wilhem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilhem as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wilhem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilhem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wilhem going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Wilhem a common name?
We classify Wilhem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wilhem most popular?
The single biggest year for Wilhem was 1997, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wilhem is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wilhem in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 151 people with the name Wilhem, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,179 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Wilhem in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Wilhem?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wilhem appears almost entirely male. Of the 152 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Wilhem?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wilhem is Hispanic at 32.5%. The next largest groups are Black (29.8%) and White (29.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Wilhem most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Wilhem in the 2020 Census, accounting for 32.5% (49 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Wilhem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wilhem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wilhem in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Wilhem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wilhem in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Wilhem can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Wilhem?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.