Name Rarity Checker / How rare is Liam
How Rare Is the Name Liam?
Liam is a familiar, well-established name. It ranks 221st of all time in U.S. records, with about 1 in 1,100 people sharing it, which puts it in the Common tier. It was most popular in the 2010s. Here is the full picture, decade by decade, plus a card you can save and share.
- Rarity
- 1 in 1,100
- Tier
- Common
- U.S. rank
- 221st
- Share of people
- 0.0909%
- People named
- 338,059
- Most popular
- the 2010s
Based on U.S. births recorded by the Social Security Administration, 1880 to 2024. Figures describe recorded names, not people alive today.
About the name Liam
Liam started as an Irish short form of William, a Germanic name meaning 'resolute protector.' It stayed mostly Irish until the late 1900s, then spread worldwide, helped along by actors like Liam Neeson.
Want to check a different name? Try the Name Rarity Checker. First names are only half the picture: the surname rarity checker runs the same math on last names, using the Census surname file.
Frequently asked questions
- How rare is the name Liam?
- Liam is in the Common tier. About 1 in 1,100 people share it, which is 0.0909% of all recorded U.S. names, and it ranks 221st of all time. In total 338,059 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
- Is Liam a rare name?
- No. Liam is a well-known name rather than a rare one. It is in the Common tier, ranked 221st of all time, with about 1 in 1,100 people sharing it.
- How common is the name Liam?
- About 1 in 1,100 people in U.S. records share the name Liam, which is 0.0909% of all recorded names and 221st of all time. That places it in the Common tier.
- Is Liam a boy or girl name?
- In the records, Liam is given almost entirely to boys. Of 338,059 people with the name, 519 were girls and 337,540 were boys.
- When was the name Liam most popular?
- Liam peaked in the 2010s. The bars on the card show its popularity for every decade from 1880 to 2024.