William Alexander
There are approximately 1,620 people named William Alexander living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 211,577 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name William with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Alexander. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
1,620
1 in 211,577
Named William
2.3M
Alive today
Named Alexander
238K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 2.3M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 54
Estimated bearers: 238K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #118
Per 100K: 69.37
Top ancestry: White (58.2%)
First name trend
William: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name William. The peak year was 1947 with 67,155 births. The average person named William today is 54 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Alexander surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Alexander, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 58.2%.
- White58.2%
- Black or African American34.0%
- Hispanic or Latino3.2%
- Two or more races2.7%
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name William has a living-bearer frequency of 0.6813% of the US population, based on 2,335,115 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Alexander appears at a rate of 69.37 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0694%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 1,620 people with the full name William Alexander. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named William
Related
Other people with the surname Alexander
FAQ
William Alexander: questions and answers
How many people are named William Alexander?
We estimate approximately 1,620 people in the United States share the full name William Alexander. That works out to about 1 in 211,577 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.6813%) with the surname frequency (69.37 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name William Alexander?
We classify William Alexander as "Rare". About 1 in 211,577 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is William a male or female name?
William is predominantly male. Out of 4,205,026 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full William profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.