Liem
Masculine · “honest”
Liem is Vietnamese for integrity — and it is also how a great many families spell Liam, which is a different name entirely.
How old is the name Liem?
Liem first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Liem is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Liem are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Liem most popular?
Liem peaked in 2013, reaching #2492 nationally. Today it ranks #4539, 2,047 places below that high. See the whole 2013 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Liem
Ours, offered as ours. Vietnamese took a very large share of its formal vocabulary from Chinese, and liêm is one of those words — it belongs to the Confucian vocabulary of official virtue, where an incorruptible magistrate is a specific and praised thing. Naming a child for that is naming him for a public quality rather than a private one. The coincidence with Liam is pure accident of the Latin alphabet.
Meaningscholars disagree
honest, incorruptible
Vietnamese liêm, from a Sino-Vietnamese root, means honest and free from corruption; it appears in the phrase for an incorruptible official. The identical English spelling of Liam, from William, is unrelated and far commoner in American records.
Pronouncing Liem
LEE-em
Two syllables in Vietnamese, with a tone English does not carry. Americans say it as Liam, LEE-am.
Nicknames for Liem
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
- 1981
- Most boys named
- 201149 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2492reached in 2013
- Change vs 2024
- +37.5%22 in 2025, from 16
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.
Liem in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Liêm in Vietnamese — same name
- Liam in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Indiana, Pennsylvania.
Liems among us
people named Liem are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 77,640 born in 2025 was named Liem
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 Nevada test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Liem's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nevada climbed just as high around 1983, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nevada's path sketches the road Liem is walking now.
Liem 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
Liem beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Liem in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Vietnamese meaning naming a genuinely public virtue.
- Four letters and one or two syllables, quick to write.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker, if not always as intended.
- Almost everyone will assume it is a spelling of Liam.
- The Vietnamese tone and diacritic are lost in American systems.
- The two names behind this spelling are entirely unrelated.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Liem
Masculine · #4539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Liems are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Liem are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Liem in 2025?
- Liem ranks #4539 among US boy names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Liem?
- About 1 in every 77,640 US boys born in 2025 was named Liem — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Liem with classmates?
- Liem will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Liem
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nels#4539 · Gabe#4539 · Michel#4539 · Elroy#4539 · Orlin#4539 · Pearce#4539 · Josemaria#4539 · Napoleon#4539
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Liem? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Liem and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
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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