How Many People Are Named William Goodwin?

There are approximately 539 people named William Goodwin living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 635,908 Americans.

This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name William with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Goodwin. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.

Estimated People with This Name

539

1 in 635,908 Americans

Combination Rarity

Uncommon

Very Rare Very Common

First Name

View full profile

William

Est. Living 2,335,115

Last Name

Goodwin

William: Popularity Over Time

Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name William. The peak year was 1947 with 67,155 births. The average person named William today is 54 years old.

Male

Female

Ancestry of the First Name William

In the 2020 Census, the first name William was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (83.31%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (6.87%) and Hispanic (5.13%).

These percentages describe the people who had the first name William in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.

Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how William rose or fell over time.

White

83.31%

Black

6.87%

Hispanic

5.13%

Asian/Pacific Islander

1.40%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.53%

Two or More Races

2.76%

Ancestry of the Goodwin Surname

The surname Goodwin was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.

This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Goodwin in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.

White

73.81%

Black

16.97%

Hispanic

3.41%

Asian/Pacific Islander

0.70%

American Indian/Alaska Native

0.87%

Two or More Races

4.22%

How we calculated this

The first name "William" has an estimated frequency of 0.681% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.

The surname "Goodwin" appears at a rate of 23.07 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.

We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name William are likely to be alive now.

Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 539 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.

Other people named William

William Smith William Johnson William Williams William Brown William Jones William Garcia William Miller William Rodriguez

Other people with the surname Goodwin

Michael Goodwin James Goodwin John Goodwin David Goodwin Robert Goodwin Raven Goodwin Iverly Goodwin

William Goodwin: Questions and Answers

How many people are named William Goodwin?

We estimate approximately 539 people named William Goodwin are alive in the United States today. The first name William is shared by 2,335,115 Americans, and the surname Goodwin is shared by 79,082.

How rare is the name William Goodwin?

This name combination is classified as Uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 635,908 Americans. The first name William is very common and the surname Goodwin is uncommon.

Is William a male or female name?

William is predominantly male, with 99.6% of bearers being male and 0.4% female. It peaked in popularity in 1947 and the average bearer today is 54 years old.

What does the Census say about the first name William?

In the 2020 Census, the first name William was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (83.31%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (6.87%) and Hispanic (5.13%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.

Where does this data come from?

First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.

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