Given name & surname
Guilherme
“will”·“desire”·“helmet”
Guilherme is a form of William. William’s elements mean “will” or “desire” and “helmet” or “protection.” “Determined protector” is a natural interpretation of that combination. Guilherme is a variant of Guillaume. In French use, Guillaume carries the interpretation “the determined protector.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Guilherme is a form of William. William’s elements mean “will” or “desire” and “helmet” or “protection.” “Determined protector” is a natural interpretation of that combination. Guilherme is a variant of Guillaume. In French use, Guillaume carries the interpretation “the determined protector.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Guilherme is a form of William. William is an English form of a Germanic name brought to England by the Normans.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
Guilherme is a form of William. The shared background comes through William: William joins the Germanic elements wil and helm. The second element began with the concrete image of a helmet and also carried the broader idea of protection.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1921. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Guilherme is a form of William. The history of William gives this family its wider story. William spread widely in England after the Norman Conquest, among people beyond the Norman ruling class. William remained prominent through the Middle Ages and became a royal name in England, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Guilherme through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 522
- 522 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2006
- 39 babies
- 2025
- 8
- #9,195 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −57%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 8 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 9,195 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 39 in 2006. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,595 as a first name in 2020; 171 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Guilherme’s family of names
In Portuguese usage, Guilherme has a diminutive in Gui. Guilherme shares a linguistic root with William. In Portuguese usage, Guilherme has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Guillermo.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Guilherme has relatives in 50 languages.
49 related names in 50 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 51
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- LiamIrish
- Williamdoublet · Portuguese, English
- GuillermoSpanish
- Willequivalent
- WillemDutch, Low German
- WilhelmGerman, Polish
- Billequivalent
- Wiliamequivalent
Show 43 moreShow fewer
- UilliamIrish
- GwilymWelsh
- ΓουλιέλμοςGreek
- GuglielmoItalian
- VilémCzech
- Guilhemequivalent
- ВільгельмUkrainian
- வில்லியம்Tamil
- VilhelmSwedish, Romanian
- ВильгельмRussian
- GuilhèmOccitan
- Dgillaumeroa-nor
- ВилијамMacedonian
- VilhelmasLithuanian
- VilhelmsLatvian
- ViljamsLatvian
- GulielmusLatin
- ウィリアムJapanese
- VilhjálmurIcelandic, Faroese
- VilmosHungarian
- ווילהלםHebrew
- UilamaHawaiian
- WiliamaHawaiian
- GwillimWelsh
- GuillermeGalician
- UilleamScottish Gaelic
- VilhelmiFinnish
- VillemEstonian
- VilhelmoEsperanto
- ViljemSlovene
- ViliamSlovak
- VilimCroatian
- WellaCornish
- 威廉Chinese
- ᏫꮅꮿꮋCherokee
- GuillemCatalan
- УилямBulgarian
- GwilhermBreton
- উইলিয়ামBengali
- WilmLow German
- GuillénAragonese
- ويليامArabic
- Willamesource · Old French
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Guilherme
- Guilherme MarinatoRussian footballerborn 1985
- Guilherme AranaBrazilian association football playerborn 1997
- Guilherme SiqueiraBrazilian footballerborn 1986
- Guilherme SantosBrazilian association football playerborn 1988
- Guilherme TorresBrazilian footballerborn 1991
- GuilhermeBrazilian footballerborn 1988
- Guilhermefootballerborn 1991
- Guilherme AlvesBrazilian footballerborn 1974
- GimenezBrazilian association football player (1995-2016)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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If you love Guilherme, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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