Fitzwilliam
Son of William, composed of the Norman-French prefix "fitz" (son of) and the name William.
Name Census estimates that about 91 living Americans carry the first name Fitzwilliam. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fitzwilliam today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fitzwilliam births was 2017 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fitzwilliam. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Fitzwilliam with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Fitzwilliam. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
91
~ 1 in 3,766,531 Americans
Peak year
2017
10 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,327
Tracked since 2014
Popularity
Fitzwilliam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fitzwilliam from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 52 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Fitzwilliam remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fitzwilliam by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Fitzwilliam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fitzwilliam
Fitzwilliam is an English given name derived from the Norman French phrase "fils William", meaning "son of William". It originated in the Middle Ages, likely in the 12th or 13th century, as a way to distinguish the son of a man named William from others with the same name.
The name's roots can be traced back to the Norman conquest of England in 1066, when many Norman French names and naming conventions were introduced to the British Isles. The prefix "Fitz" (from the French "fils", meaning "son") was commonly used in medieval England to indicate a person's patronymic, or their father's name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fitzwilliam can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholdings and estates in England, commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. It mentions a landowner named "Fitzwilliam" in the county of Bedfordshire.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the name Fitzwilliam was particularly popular among the English nobility and gentry. Several notable historical figures bore this name, including:
1. William FitzWilliam (c. 1460-1534), an English courtier and Lord Privy Seal under King Henry VIII.
2. Sir William FitzWilliam (1526-1599), an English Lord Deputy of Ireland and founder of the FitzWilliam Museum in Cambridge.
3. William FitzWilliam, 4th Earl FitzWilliam (1748-1833), a British nobleman and politician who served as Lord President of the Council.
4. William Wentworth-FitzWilliam, 2nd Earl FitzWilliam (1748-1809), an Irish nobleman and political figure who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
5. William FitzWilliam Burton (1609-1657), an English philosopher and mathematician who made significant contributions to the field of optics.
These individuals hailed from various parts of England and Ireland, reflecting the wide geographic spread of the name throughout the British Isles over the centuries. The name Fitzwilliam continues to be used today, though it is less common than in previous eras.
People
Fitzwilliam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fitzwilliam as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fitzwilliam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fitzwilliam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 91 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fitzwilliam going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,766,531 US residents.
Is Fitzwilliam a common name?
We classify Fitzwilliam as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 92 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fitzwilliam most popular?
The single biggest year for Fitzwilliam was 2017, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fitzwilliam is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Fitzwilliam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fitzwilliam a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fitzwilliam in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Fitzwilliam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fitzwilliam in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Fitzwilliam can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Fitzwilliam?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.