William is a
male
Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization.
A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...
given name of
Germanic origin.
[Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', ]Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
after the
Norman conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqu ...
in 1066,
[All Things William]
"Meaning & Origin of the Name"
/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and wi ...
, Wills, Willy
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
* Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scre ...
, Willie
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
* Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and sc ...
, Bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Pla ...
, and Billy
Billy may refer to:
* Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name)
Animals
* Billy (dog), a dog breed
* Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945
* Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
* Billy, a yo ...
. A common Irish form is Liam
Liam is a short form of the Irish name Uilliam or the old Germanic name William.
Etymology
The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these e ...
. Scottish diminutives
A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A ( abbreviated ) is a word-form ...
include Wull, Willie
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to:
People Given name or nickname
* Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and sc ...
or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie
''Oor Wullie'' ( en, Our Willie) is a Scottish comic strip published in the D.C. Thomson newspaper '' The Sunday Post''. It features a character called Wullie; Wullie is the familiar Scots nickname for boys named William, equivalent to Willie ...
or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa Willa is a feminine given name. Notable people and characters with the name include:
* Willa or Guilla of Provence (died before 924), early medieval Frankish queen
* Willa of Tuscany (died 970), queen consort of Berengar II of Italy
* Willa Brow ...
, Willemina Willemina is a Dutch feminine given name similar to Wilhelmina. Bearers often use a short form in daily life, including ''Ineke'', ''Mien'', ''Miep'', ''Wil'', ''Will'', ''Willeke'', ''Willy'', and ''Wilma''. People with the name include:
* Will ...
, Wilma and Wilhelmina.
Etymology
William is related to the given name ''Wilhelm'' (cf. Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic br ...
ᚹᛁᛚᛃᚨᚺᛖᛚᛗᚨᛉ, ''*Wiljahelmaz'' > German '' Wilhelm'' and Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
ᚢᛁᛚᛋᛅᚼᛅᛚᛘᛅᛋ, ''Vilhjálmr''). By regular sound changes, the native, inherited English form of the name should be ''*Wilhelm'' as well (although the name is not actually attested in the history of English, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of A ...
refers to William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
as ''Willelm''). That is a compound of two distinct elements: ''wil'' = "will or desire"; ''helm''; Old English ''helm'' "helmet, protection"; English ''helm'' "knight's large helmet".
The form ''William'' is identified as typical of the Old Norman
Old Norman, also called Old Northern French or Old Norman French ( fro, Ancien Normant, nrf, Ancien Normaund), was one of many varieties of the ''langues d'oïl'' native to northern France. It was spoken throughout the region of what is now calle ...
form ''Williame, Willame'', because first, the English language should have retained ''(h)elm'' (see common words ''helm, helmet'', in French '' heaume''), second, ''-iaume'' aʷm(typical of Popular French, see Guillaume) turned to ''-iame'' am(typical of some Norman and Picard dialects) > English ''-iam''. Historically, there was first a triphthongation of ''-elm'' (early Gallo-Romance form WILLELMU) into aʷ+ in Old Norman-French, quite similar in Old Central French aʷ+ Then, the triphthong ''-iau'' was submitted to a monophthongation localized on the second part of the triphthong áu > āò > ā. For instance, this development can be followed in the different versions of the name in the Wace's ''Roman de Rou
''Roman de Rou'' is a verse chronicle by Wace in Norman covering the history of the Dukes of Normandy from the time of Rollo of Normandy to the battle of Tinchebray in 1106. It is a national epic of Normandy.
Following the success of his ''Roma ...
''. or in the Cauchois variant forms of common words such as ''osias'' (plural of ''osè'' "bird", older ''oisel'') / Regular Norman ''oisiaus'' "birds" (French sing. ''oiseau'', pl. ''oiseaux'').
The spelling and phonetics ''Wi-'' iis a characteristic trait of the Northern French dialects, but the pronunciation changed in Norman from ito iin the 12th century (cf. the Norman surnames '' Villon'' and ''Villamaux'' "little William"), unlike the Central French and Southern Norman that turned the Germanic ''Wi-'' into ''Gui-'' wi> i The Modern French spelling is .
The first well-known carrier of the name was Charlemagne
Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...
's cousin William of Gellone
William of Gellone ( 755 – 28 May 812 or 814), the medieval William of Orange, was the second Duke of Toulouse from 790 until 811. In 804, he founded the abbey of Gellone. He was canonized a saint in 1066 by Pope Alexander II. , a.k.a. Guilhem, William of Orange, Guillaume Fierabrace, or William Short-Nose (755–812). This William is immortalized in the Chanson de Guillaume and his esteem may account for the name's subsequent popularity among European nobility.
English history
The English "William" is taken from the Anglo-Norman language
Anglo-Norman, also known as Anglo-Norman French ( nrf, Anglo-Normaund) (French: ), was a dialect of Old Norman French that was used in England and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in Great Britain and Ireland during the Anglo-Norman period.
When ...
and was transmitted to England after the Norman conquest in the 11th century, and soon became the most popular name in England, along with other Norman names such as Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
(the English cognate was Hrēodbeorht, which by regular sound changes would have developed into something along the lines of "Reedbart"), Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...
, Roger
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
(the English cognate was Hroðgar), Henry (all of Germanic origin and may have been transmitted through the Normans' use of Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...
).
The name Wilkin/Wilkins is also of medieval origin, taken from the shortened version of William (Will) with the suffix "kin" added.
Variants
*Wilem, Awilemam ( Koromfe)
*Weelum ( Scots)
*Willum ( Scots)
*Viliamu ( Samoan)
*Viliami ( Tongan)
*Whiriyamu ( Karanga)
*Whiliyamu (Ndebele
Ndebele may refer to:
*Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa
*Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe and Botswana
Languages
* Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele
* Northern Ndebele language, the language ...
)
*Wilhelm (German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
, Polish, Swedish)
*Willem, Wilhelmus (Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
, Frisian, Low German
:
:
:
:
:
(70,000)
(30,000)
(8,000)
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 = West Germanic
, fam4 = North Sea Germanic
, ancestor = Old Saxon
, ancestor2 = Middle ...
)
*Willem, Wilhelm (Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...
)
*Wiremu Wiremu is a masculine given name, the Māori form of William. Notable people with the name include:
People with given name Wiremu
* Aaron Wiremu Cruden (born 1989), New Zealand rugby union player
* Wiremu Doherty, New Zealand Māori educationali ...
( Maori)
*Willelm (Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
)
*Williama ( Hawaiian)
*Wellëm (Luxembourgish
Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.
As a standard form of th ...
)
*Walaam ( Persian)
*Wiliyom, Wiliyem (Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
)
*Vĩnh Liêm, Vĩnh Lâm ( Vietnamese)
*Billem ( Toba Batak)
*Cuglierme (Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
)
*Golem, Gulielm, Ylli, Ylmer ( Albanian)
*Gilen, Guilen ( Basque)
*Gulielmus, Vilhelmus, Willelmus, Gullelmus, Gullielmus, Villelmus (Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
)
*Guglielmo (Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
)
*Guillaume (French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
)
*Guildhelm (Old Dutch
In linguistics, Old Dutch (Dutch: Oudnederlands) or Old Low Franconian (Dutch: Oudnederfrankisch) is the set of Franconian dialects (i.e. dialects that evolved from Frankish) spoken in the Low Countries during the Early Middle Ages, from aro ...
)
*Guilhem ( Occitan)
*Guillem, Guim (Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
)
*Guillén ( Aragonese)
*Guillermo
Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People
* Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Spanish football manager and former player
* Guillermo A ...
(Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
)
*Guilherme
Guilherme is a Portuguese given name, equivalent to William in English. The feminine form of this name is Guilhermina. Diminutive forms include Guilhermino. Vilma (Portuguese form of Wilma) is another female variant of the name.
Brazilian foot ...
( Portuguese)
*Guillerme ( Galician)
*Gwilym (Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
)
*Gwilherm ( Breton)
*Gugghiermu ( Sicilian)
*Gllâome (Modern Norman)
*Uilliam ( Irish)
*Liam
Liam is a short form of the Irish name Uilliam or the old Germanic name William.
Etymology
The original name was a merging of two Old German elements: ''willa'' ("will" or "resolution"); and ''helma'' ("helmet"). The juxtaposition of these e ...
( Irish)
*Illiam (Manx Gaelic
Manx ( or , pronounced or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the historical language of the Manx people ...
)
*Uilleam
Uilleam is a masculine given name in the Scottish Gaelic language. It is the equivalent of the name ''William'' in English.
List of people with the given name
*Uilleam, Earl of Mar
* Uilleam I, Earl of Ross
*Uilleam II, Earl of Ross
*Uilleam III ...
(Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
)
*وِلْيَم – William (Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
)
*Уилиам – Uiliam ( Bulgarian)
*װֶעלװֶעל – /ˈvelvel/ (Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
)
*Villem, Villu (Estonian
Estonian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
* Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent
* Estonian language
* Estonian cuisine
* Estonian culture
See also
*
...
)
*Вильгельм, Уильям – Vil'gel'm, Uil'yam ( Russian)
*Вільгельм, Вільям – Vil'hel'm, Vil'yam (Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
)
*Уільям, Вільям – Uiĺjam, Viĺjam ( Belarusian)
*Villem
Villem is an Estonian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the English language William and the German Wilhelm and may refer to:
* Villem Gross (1922–2001), Estonian writer and journalist
*Villem Grünthal-Ridala (1885–1942), Estonian p ...
– Estonian
Estonian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
* Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent
* Estonian language
* Estonian cuisine
* Estonian culture
See also
*
...
* Vilhelm ( Danish, Norwegian, Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
** Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...
, Swedish)
*Vilhelmo (Esperanto
Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communic ...
)
*Vilhelms
Vilhelms is a Latvian masculine given name, cognate of the English name William
William is a male
Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete ...
( Latvian)
*Viliam ( Slovak)
*Viljem ( Slovene)
*ויליאם – /ˈviljam/ (older propronunciation), /ˈwiljam/ (contemporary) (Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
)
*Vilim ( Croatian)
*Вилим ( Serbian)
*Vilém (Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech, ...
)
*Vilmos ( Hungarian)
*Viljams, Vilhelms, Vilis ( Latvian)
*Vilius, Viliumas, Vilhelmas ( Lithuanian)
*Viljami, Ville, Vilho, Viljo (Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
)
*Vilhjálmur ( Icelandic)
*Vilhjálmur, Viljormur ( Faroese)
*Vilhjálmr (Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
)
*Vilko ( Croatian)
*Vilyam, Vilyım (Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
)
*Vėljams ( Samogitian)
*Γουλιέλμος (Wouliélmos) (Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
)
*ܘܠܝܡ (Wil-yam) (Assyrian
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyrian ...
)
*Գուլիելմոս (Goulielmós) (Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
)
People named William
See also
*
*Williams (surname)
Williams is a common patronymic form of the name William (name), William that originated in medieval England, Wales, France, and Italy.Reaney & Wilson p.493
The meaning is derived from ''son'' or ''descendant of William'', the Northern French lan ...
*Bill (disambiguation)
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
*Billy (disambiguation)
Billy may refer to:
* Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name)
Animals
* Billy (dog), a dog breed
* Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945
* Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge
* Billy, a youn ...
*King William (disambiguation) King William may refer to:
People
Bimbia
* William I of Bimbia (died before 1878)
* William II of Bimbia (died 1889)
British Isles
* William I of England (c. 1066–1087), better known as William the Conqueror
* William II of England (c. 1087 ...
*Saint William (disambiguation) Saint William may refer to:
Saints
* Saint William of Gellone (755–812 or 814), second Count of Toulouse
* Saint William of Volpiano (962 - 1031), monastic reformer and architect
* Saint William Firmatus (1026 - 1103), hermit
* Saint William of M ...
*Wilhelm (disambiguation)
Wilhelm may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm"
* Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
Other uses
* Mount ...
References
{{Authority control
English-language masculine given names
English masculine given names