Williette
Diminutive feminine form of William, a Germanic name meaning "resolute protection".
Name Census estimates that about 87 living Americans carry the first name Williette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Williette today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Williette births was 1957 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Williette. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Williette is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Williettes were born before 1967.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Williette. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
87
~ 1 in 3,939,705 Americans
Peak year
1957
14 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
1969 SSA rank
#7,463
Tracked since 1937
Census
Williette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 192 people with the first name Williette, which placed it at #39,369 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#39,369
National first-name rank
People counted
192
192 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Williette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Williette is Black at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Williette described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Williette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.7% · 178
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 6
- Two or more races1.6% · 3
- White1.0% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Williette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Williette from the 1930s through to the 1960s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 59 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Williette remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Williette 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 Williette 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 Williette
The name Williette is a feminine given name with roots tracing back to the Late Latin and Early Germanic languages. Its origins can be found in the combination of the Germanic elements "wil" meaning "will" or "desire" and the common Germanic suffix "-ette" which denotes a diminutive or endearing form.
This name first appeared in written records around the 9th century CE, primarily in regions of modern-day France and Germany. It is believed to have been derived from the older Germanic name Wilhildis or Wilihild, which was composed of the elements "wil" (will) and "hildi" (battle).
One of the earliest documented instances of the name Williette can be found in a medieval French text from the 12th century, where it was used to refer to a young noblewoman. In the 13th century, a Williette de Montfort was recorded as a member of the influential Montfort family in France.
During the Middle Ages, the name Williette gained popularity among the French aristocracy and was often associated with individuals of noble or gentle birth. Notable examples include Williette de Bouville, a 14th-century French noblewoman, and Williette de Châteauneuf, a 15th-century courtier in the court of King Charles VII of France.
In the 16th century, the name Williette appeared in the works of the renowned French poet and satirist Clément Marot, who referenced a character by that name in one of his poems. This literary reference helped to further popularize the name during the Renaissance period.
Other notable individuals bearing the name Williette throughout history include Williette de Mézières, a 17th-century French courtier and lady-in-waiting to Queen Marie-Thérèse of France, and Williette de Lancy, an 18th-century French noblewoman and socialite known for her literary salons.
While the name Williette has been primarily associated with French and Germanic cultures, it has also been adopted in other regions over time, often with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation. However, its historical roots can be traced back to the Late Latin and Early Germanic languages, reflecting a rich and enduring tradition.
People
Williette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Williette as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Williette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Williette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 87 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Williette 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 3,939,705 US residents.
Is Williette a common name?
We classify Williette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 127 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Williette most popular?
The single biggest year for Williette was 1957, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Williette is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Williette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 192 people with the name Williette, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,369 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Williette in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Williette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Williette leans strongly female. 185 people counted with this name were female (96.9%), compared with 6 male bearers (3.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Williette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Williette is Black at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Williette most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Williette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.7% (178 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Williette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Williette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Williette in the SSA data are female. 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 Williette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Williette 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 Williette 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.
How many Americans are named Williette?
See how many people have the name Williette on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.