Wilhelmina
The feminine of Wilhelm and William, Germanic at root, carrying the sense of resolute protection. Fewer than 500 women in Poland go by it, so most people here have never met one.
Wilhelmina Pronunciation
Wilhelmina is pronounced veel-khel-MEE-nah (/vilxɛlˈmina/).
What Wilhelmina means
Where Wilhelmina comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Wilhelmina comes from Germanic roots, the feminine form of Wilhelm, which English speakers know better as William. Two old words sit inside it. Wil means will or desire, and helm means helmet or protection. Put together they give the short meaning, resolute protection. A person so named holds a small argument about strength.
The Dutch made the name royal. Wilhelmina reigned as queen of the Netherlands from 1890 to 1948, and during the German occupation her radio broadcasts from London turned her name into a rallying point for a people under threat.
In Poland the name stays rare, and its variants travel further than the full form. William and Wilhelm grew from the same Germanic stock, so a Polish class register is far more likely to hold one of them. The Polish reading, silna wola, leans on the will inside the name rather than the helmet. Both the will and the protection remain in Wilhelmina.
How many people are named Wilhelmina
1 in 47064 women in Poland is named Wilhelmina. 479 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1345 among female names.
Wilhelmina's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Where Wilhelmina is most popular
Wilhelmina is most popular in Greater Poland, 904% above the national average (2 girls born 2019–2025).
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Greater Poland2 girls born+904%
Wilhelmina as a middle name
Wilhelmina is a first name for 479 women in Poland and a middle name for another 268, a 64/36 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 411th, between Michaela (268) and Lukrecja (267).
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#409 Kasandra273
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#410 Michaela268
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#411 Wilhelmina268
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#412 Lukrecja267
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#413 Scholastyka267