Wilhemina
Feminine form of the Germanic name Wilhelm, meaning "resolute protector".
Name Census estimates that about 452 living Americans carry the first name Wilhemina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wilhemina today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wilhemina births was 1960 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wilhemina. 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.
People living today
452
~ 1 in 758,306 Americans
Peak year
1960
35 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,493
Tracked since 1886
Popularity
Wilhemina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wilhemina from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 226 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wilhemina 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 Wilhemina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wilheminas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia recorded the most babies named Wilhemina, while Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wilhemina
The name Wilhemina is a feminine form of the Germanic name Wilhelm, which is derived from the Old German words "wil" meaning "will" or "desire" and "helm" meaning "helmet" or "protection". The name was likely first used in the 9th century AD among German-speaking populations in central Europe.
Wilhemina has its roots in the medieval Christian tradition, as it was often given to girls in honor of St. Willibrord, an 8th-century Anglo-Saxon missionary who helped spread Christianity in the Netherlands and parts of Germany. The name is closely associated with the Dutch royal family, as several Dutch princesses and queens have borne the name throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Wilhemina is Princess Wilhemina of Prussia (1751-1820), the daughter of Prince Augustus William of Prussia and a niece of Frederick the Great. Another notable bearer was Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (1880-1962), who reigned from 1890 until her abdication in 1948, making her one of the longest-reigning monarchs in Dutch history.
Other famous Wilheminas throughout history include Wilhemina Drummond (1778-1865), a Scottish writer and artist; Wilhemina Fernandez (1910-1943), a Filipino teacher and activist who fought against Japanese occupation during World War II; and Wilhemina Rhodes Kelly (1873-1924), an American educator and civil rights activist who helped establish the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Wilhemina has also been used as a name in other European countries, such as Germany and Sweden, where it has been spelled slightly differently, such as Wilhelmina or Vilhelmina. In the United States, the name gained popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly among families of German or Dutch descent.
People
Wilhemina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wilhemina 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
Wilhemina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wilhemina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 452 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wilhemina 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 758,306 US residents.
Is Wilhemina a common name?
We classify Wilhemina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 951 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wilhemina most popular?
The single biggest year for Wilhemina was 1960, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wilhemina is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Wilhemina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wilhemina in the SSA data are female. 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.
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.