But, given the popularity of the name, generated by the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, this year, Scott Rickerby and Kelsey Hampson decided to call their firstborn Liam.
"We didn't want to choose William because we thought that would be too popular.
"We were trying to avoid a really common name," Mr Rickerby said.
Unfortunately, Liam turned out to be the most popular name for newborns published in the Otago Daily Times births columns in 2011.
While there were nine newborn boys named William, 15 were named Liam, and close behind on the list were Thomas (12) and Samuel (12).
As for the most popular girl's name, 16 newborns were called Sophie or Sophia, 13 were called Charlotte and 12 were called Ruby.
Despite the royal wedding, only two babies were named Kate in 2011.
Other, more innovative, names included Daxia, Jaxon, Nyxie, Ryker, Makkai, Zevi and Skuxx.
When Mr Rickerby learnt Liam was the most popular name for 2011, he was struck by the irony.
"We were thinking, 'd'oh!'"But we wouldn't change the name if we had known it was the most popular. It suits him."
