Liam

Say it once and the room tilts toward you. Liam arrived in America as the pared-down Irish cousin of William, stripping "resolute protector" down to a single, weighted syllable that lands like a door closing on a windy night. For years it sat comfortably in Dublin classrooms and emigrant ledgers; then, somewhere around 2017, American parents decided they wanted the warmth without the formality, and Liam climbed to the top of the SSA charts and stayed there. It reads equally well on a kindergarten name tag and a law firm door. Compact, durable, quietly Celtic.