Williemae
Feminine
Williemae joins a man's familiar form to a short second name and writes the pair without a space, which is how a great many Southern double names reached the federal record. Both halves were ordinary for daughters when it was made; neither is now.
How old is the name Williemae?
Williemae first appears in US birth records in 1896 — 129 years ago. The typical Williemae alive today was born around 1919, making them about 106 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Williemae are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Williemae most popular?
Williemae peaked in 1906, reaching #917 nationally. See the whole 1906 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Williemae
The month in the back half of this name has been considered a bad one to marry in for a very long time. Ovid records the Roman belief plainly: May belonged to the dead, the Lemuria fell in it, and weddings were to be avoided until the month was out. The English kept the superstition long after the festival was forgotten, and put it into a rhyme — marry in May and you will rue the day — which was still being quoted to brides in the twentieth century. Parish registers from several centuries show it working: May weddings are noticeably scarcer than the months either side of them, in places where nobody could have told you why. The name is not affected by any of this, but it is a reminder that a word can carry a reputation for two thousand years without anyone checking where it came from.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The first half is the familiar form of William, whose Germanic meaning is documented. The second cannot be resolved: Mae served as the month, as a short form of Mary and as a spelling of May, and families used it all three ways without recording which they meant.
Pronouncing Williemae
WILL-ee-may
Three syllables. Both halves keep a beat, which is the sign of a double name written solid rather than a single name, and the first half carries the heavier stress.
Nicknames for Williemae
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
- 1896
- Most girls named
- 192047 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #917reached in 1906
- Change vs 1965
- −16.7%5 in 1967, from 6
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.
Williemaes among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Williemae are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Williemae sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Both halves are common and neither has to be spelled out by sound.
- It collapses to Willie or to Mae, and both work as complete names.
- Written as one word it fills a single field on a form, which is why it was written that way.
- Willie Mae and Willie-Mae are both recorded, and systems will split or hyphenate it without asking.
- It reads as belonging firmly to one generation and one region.
- Only the first half has a documented meaning, and the second genuinely cannot be resolved.
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Williemae
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Williemaes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Williemae are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Williemae in 2025?
- Williemae is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Williemae with classmates?
- Williemae will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More W names
The most-given names starting with W, all years combined.
Wanda#5917 · Wendy#1341 · Willie#10107 · Wilma#3645 · Whitney#1043 · Willow#44 · Winifred#922 · Willa#422
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Williemae? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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