Liam
Feminine · “resolute protection”
Liam is given to boys far more often — 358,536 boys against 549 girls since 1880. See Liam as a boy name
Liam is the Irish end of William: Uilliam cut down to its last syllable and kept. William itself is Germanic and martial, a will and a helmet joined, and it came to Ireland with the Normans and stayed. The spelling goes overwhelmingly to boys, and a small number of girls carry it too.
How old is the name Liam?
Liam first appears in US birth records in 1995 — 30 years ago. The typical Liam is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Liam are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Liam most popular?
Liam peaked in 2017, reaching #3919 nationally. Today it ranks #4758, 839 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Willahelm to Liam
The story of Liam
Willahelm was a Frankish name that the Normans carried to England in 1066 and on to Ireland a century later. Irish took it as Uilliam and shortened it, as Irish shortens everything, to Liam. For most of its history it was an ordinary Irish nickname; it became a full name in the twentieth century and then, quite suddenly, an international one. Its use for girls is recent and small, and follows the same road that carried Ryan and Rowan across: a short, bright name whose sound does not insist on a sex.
Meaning
resolute protection; will and helmet
Through Uilliam from Germanic Willahelm: wil, will or desire, joined to helm, a helmet and by extension protection. Liam keeps the last part of the Irish form rather than the first.
How the name formed
- Willahelm
- William
- Uilliam
- Liam
Related forms: Uilliam · William · Wilhelm · Guillermo · Guillaume · Guglielmo
Pronouncing Liam
LEE-um
Two syllables, stress in front. Irish says it the same way, and nothing changes between the sexes.
Nicknames for Liam
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1995
- Most girls named
- 201738 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3919reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −22.2%28 in 2025, from 36
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Liam in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Uilliam in Irish — related form
- William in English — same name
- Wilhelm in German — same name
- Guillermo in Spanish — same name
- Guillaume in French — same name
- Guglielmo in Italian — same name
Liams among us
people named Liam are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 57,402 born in 2025 was named Liam
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Liliane test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Liam's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Liliane climbed just as high around 1916, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Liliane's path sketches the road Liam is walking now.
Liam sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Liam is headed
Liam should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Liam beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Liam in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, two syllables and no possible misreading of the spelling.
- It has one of the longest documented histories in Europe behind it, through William.
- It travels: Irish, English, German, Spanish and French all have the same name in some form.
- The name goes overwhelmingly to boys, so a girl called Liam will be filed on the wrong list often and corrected for years.
- It is currently one of the most-given boys' names in the country, so the sound is everywhere.
- There is no tradition of use for girls to point to when someone queries it.
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What they receive
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Liam
Feminine · #4758 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Liams are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Liam are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Liam in 2025?
- Liam ranks #4758 among US girl names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Liam?
- About 1 in every 57,402 US girls born in 2025 was named Liam — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Liam with classmates?
- Liam will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Liam
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Marylou#4758 · Landon#4758 · Lexa#4758 · Alysia#4758 · Ixchel#4758 · Parisa#4758 · Jumana#4758 · Berenice#4758
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Liam? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Liam and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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