Meaning of the nameGuilherme

Male
Germanic origin
Gui-lher-me

Guilherme is a male name, the Portuguese form of William, which comes from Germanic Willehelm, read as 'helmet of will'.

Meaning

“'helmet of will', from willo, 'will', and helm, 'helmet, protection'”

Source: Behind the Name: Guilherme · Behind the Name: William

More names that mean protection

People (2022): 676,181
Rank in Brazil: #21
Median age: 18 years
2010 Census: 529,001; people

Guilherme in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Guilherme, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 2000s (251,651 people).

4,752 women 671,429 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Guilherme is most common

States with the highest share of people named Guilherme in the population, in the 2022 Census.

All states

State	People	% of population
São Paulo	207,024	0.466%
Minas Gerais	71,675	0.349%
Rio de Janeiro	54,397	0.339%
Rio Grande do Sul	47,094	0.433%
Paraná	45,379	0.397%
Bahia	36,579	0.259%
Santa Catarina	30,871	0.406%
Goiás	24,274	0.344%
Pernambuco	20,323	0.224%
Ceará	14,888	0.169%
Pará	12,813	0.158%
Distrito Federal	12,632	0.448%
Espírito Santo	12,567	0.328%
Maranhão	11,894	0.176%
Mato Grosso	11,476	0.314%
Mato Grosso do Sul	9,592	0.348%
Amazonas	9,153	0.232%
Paraíba	7,492	0.189%
Alagoas	6,558	0.210%
Piauí	5,706	0.174%
Rio Grande do Norte	5,423	0.164%
Sergipe	5,101	0.231%
Rondônia	4,548	0.288%
Tocantins	4,226	0.280%
Amapá	1,539	0.210%
Acre	1,500	0.181%
Roraima	1,457	0.229%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Guilherme

Wiktionary records Guilherme as a borrowing from Old French Willame, from Frankish *Willahelm and Proto-Germanic *Wiljahelmaz, with the same origin as English William. Behind the Name explains that Willehelm means 'helmet of will', with the elements willo, 'will, desire', and helm, 'helmet, protection'. Both sources record Gui as a short form, and Wiktionary gives Guilhermina as the feminine. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 676,181 people named Guilherme, with a median age of 18. Proportionally, it is most common in São Paulo.

Sources

Wiktionary: Guilherme · en.wiktionary.org · origin
Behind the Name: Guilherme · behindthename.com · meaning
Behind the Name: William · behindthename.com · meaning

Questions about the name Guilherme

What does the name Guilherme mean?

Guilherme means “'helmet of will', from willo, 'will', and helm, 'helmet, protection'”, according to Behind the Name.

How many people are named Guilherme in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 676,181 people with the first name Guilherme, which ranks it number 21 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 2000s.

Is Guilherme a boy's or a girl's name?

Guilherme is a male name: in the 2022 Census, 4,752 women and 671,429 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Guilherme?

Guilherme is a name of Germanic origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Guilherme most common?

Proportionally, in São Paulo: 0.466% of the state's population is named Guilherme (207,024 people), according to the 2022 Census.

Names that also mean protection

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More names of Germanic origin

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Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Guilherme with a source. See the methodology.