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Willem

“Variant of William — Will and helmet” — Germanic via Norman French origin

Boy's name · #2601 in the US (2025) · 2000s

Willem reached #1208 in 2003 and has eased to #2601 since. About 2,800 boys have carried it since 1916.

Around the world: about 1 in 2,100 boys in Belgium (2025) · about 1 in 8,400 boys in Canada (2024) · about 1 in 12,000 boys in Switzerland (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 4 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Willems

• Willem Dafoe — American actor (1955-)
• Willem Barents — Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer (1550–1597)
• Willem Einthoven — Dutch physiologist
• Willem Drees — Dutch politician (1886–1988)
• Willem de Kooning — Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist (1904–1997)

In stories & tradition

• Willem de Roover — fictional human
• Willem van Oringen — fictional human
• Willem van der Decken — human whose existence is disputed

What Willems become

Among 2,629 notable people named Willem:

Military figures appear 3.19× more often than among typical names — e.g. Willem Joseph van Ghent, Dutch admiral.

Similar names: Willie · Fredy · Whitley · Rylee · Shulem · Weslee

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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