The William surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 13,373 people carried this name — #2,694 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 22,100 people counted. That is down 22% from 17,164 in 2000.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 315 people named William.
64 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 25 départements, most often Guadeloupe.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
50 people named William live in Switzerland.
They live in 6 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 42 people named William live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Antwerp.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
118 people named William is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
William in American newspapers,
1899–1917.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 9,200,959 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named William,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg 1578–1653 · art collector -
Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg 1578–1653 · art collector -
Lewis William(S) 1774–1862 · teacher -
Mark William 1375–
-
Clare Agard 1530–1590
-
Thomas William 1697–1778 · poet
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to William.
- Willeman 139 · U.S. census
- Willemin 242 · U.S. census
- Willems 2,707 · U.S. census
- Willer 2,331 · U.S. census
- Willers 569 · U.S. census
- Willette 3,835 · U.S. census
- Williame 147 · U.S. census
- Williams 1,625,252 · U.S. census
- Williamson 114,959 · U.S. census
- Willie 5,025 · U.S. census
- Willier 302 · U.S. census
- Willig 912 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where William is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.