Irish short form of Uilliam, from Germanic Wilhelm — resolute protector. America's most popular boy's name every year since 2017.
Liam ranks 1st among American boys in 2025, with 20,846 born that year. Its best year was 2024, when 22,288 babies were given the name, ranking 1st. The typical living American called Liam is about 9 years old today. It is relatively most common in Rhode Island, where it accounts for 1.15% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.