Wilhelmina

#1,517 in 2025Girls' name

Feminine form of Wilhelm

Wilhelmina has been given to 13,099 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,517 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1916, with 320 recorded.

Babies named Wilhelmina, 2025

1 in 23,500

Wilhelmina over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Wilhelmina: meaning, origin, and history

Feminine form of Wilhelm

German and Germanic languages

What Wilhelmina means

Wilhelmina is a feminine form of Wilhelm.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Wilhelmina → Wilhelm → Wilhelm → *Wiljahelmaz. The family’s meaning is “will + helmet”, recorded in Proto-Germanic with the source elements wiljô and helmaz.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from German Wilhelmina, equivalent to Wilhelm + -ina.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Wilhelmina (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Wilhelmina is used in English, Cebuano, Dutch, German, Polish and Swedish. Its origins include German and Germanic languages.

Wilhelmina comes through German Wilhelmina.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Wilhelm and Willem.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Wilhelmina is pronounced /ˌwɪl.əˈmiːn.ə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 13,094 girls were recorded with the name Wilhelmina between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 320 in 1916; its best national rank was #215 in 1884.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,829 in 2020 to #1,517 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,608 in 2015 to #1,517 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Wilhelmina between 1935 and 1935. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1935; its best national rank was #4,135 in 1935.

How common is Wilhelmina?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 23,500; 141 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 11,400; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #1,517; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 16,298 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Wilhelmina sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 16,298 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Wilhelmina. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Wilhelminas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Wilhelmina was born before 1926 — so the typical Wilhelmina is around 99 today.

Median birth year: 1926; About 99 years old
Biggest decade: 1910s; 17.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 14.6%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 3,780; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1910s — 17.1% of all recorded uses (2,241).

Is Wilhelmina rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: +292; Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago: +312; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: +91; Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago: 1.05×; More babies than then
Share of its own peak: 44.1%; Peak was 1916 (320)
Years since peak: 109; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 23.7% average annual change
Best rank ever: #215; 1884

Spellings of Wilhelmina

Wilhelmina is the most-used spelling, taking 79.5% of the 16,469 babies given a near-identical spelling.

Wilhelmina79.5%13,094
Wilhelmenia6.8%1,125
Wilhemina5.8%956
Wilhelmena4.7%769
Wilhelmine3.2%525

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Wilhelmina is used

Across 2016–2025, Wilhelmina was most concentrated in Wisconsin — about 1 in 5,000 girls, against 1 in 15,634 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 100,000).

120 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Wisconsin1 in 5,000
2Michigan1 in 5,263
3Minnesota1 in 5,263
4New York1 in 8,333
5Pennsylvania1 in 11,111
6Massachusetts1 in 12,500
7California1 in 14,286
8Illinois1 in 14,286

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Wilhelmina around the world

Where Wilhelmina ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
1996–2025
#1,639
in 2025
France
1912–2024
#5,427
in 2024
Canada
2011–2024
#1,968
in 2024
South Australia
1947–2012
#871
in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Wilhelmina

People whose public names include Wilhelmina, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

Wilhelmina of the NetherlandsMonarch
1880–1962

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Wilhelmina in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Wilhelmina. Linked forms have their own page here.

Miina Wilhelmena Wilhelmine GuillerminaVilemínaWilhelmaGuglielmaVilhelminaVilhelmineVilhelmīneGuglielminaWilhelmiinaWillhelmina

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Wilhelmina by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #1,517
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 312
Best rank ever: #215; 1884
Peak year: 1916; 320 that year
First recorded: 1880
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 13,094
Count in 2025: 141

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #4,135; 1935
Peak year: 1935; 5 that year
First recorded: 1935
Last recorded: 1935
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Wilhelmina

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Names with a curve like Wilhelmina

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Wilhelmina, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

Zella Leora Agatha Lelia Ona Alvina Dessie Hester Lettie Una Lessie Georgie

Sibling names for Wilhelmina

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Zella Georgiana Tillie Nell Agatha Elinor Leora Eleanore

For a brother

Booker Everette Anton Hiram Meyer Noble Emil Valentine

Explore around Wilhelmina

Top names of 1916, Wilhelmina's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1884 More old lady names Girls' names starting with W German Girl Names William Variations & Nicknames