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 books ...

, 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 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,

Wills Wills may refer to: * Will (law) A will or testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the pr ...

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 scree ...

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 Plac ...

, and Billy. A common

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 ele ...

. Scottish diminutives include Wull,

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 bran ...

ᚹᛁᛚᛃᚨᚺᛖᛚᛗᚨᛉ, ''*Wiljahelmaz'' > German ''

Wilhelm 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 ...

'' 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 settlemen ...

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 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 House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

as ''Willelm''). That is a

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

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 Guillaume may refer to: People * Guillaume (given name), the French equivalent of William * Guillaume (surname) Other uses * Guillaume (crater) See also * '' Chanson de Guillaume'', an 11th or 12th century poem * Guillaume affair, a Cold War espi ...

) turned to ''-iame'' am(typical of some Norman and Picard dialects) > English ''-iam''. Historically, there was first a

triphthong In phonetics, a triphthong (, ) (from Greek τρίφθογγος, "triphthongos", literally "with three sounds," or "with three tones") is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement of the articulator from one vowel q ...

ation of ''-elm'' (early Gallo-Romance form WILLELMU) into aʷ+ in Old Norman-French, quite similar in Old Central French aʷ+ Then, the

''-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 Wace ( 1110 – after 1174), sometimes referred to as Robert Wace, was a Medieval Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy (he tells us in the ''Roman de Rou'' that he was taken as a child to Caen), ending his car ...

'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 ''Ro ...

''. 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 ...

'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 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 '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

(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 Hrothgar ( ang, Hrōðgār ; on, Hróarr) was a semi-legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD. Hrothgar appears in the Anglo-Saxon epics ''Beowulf'' and ''Widsith'', in Norse sagas and poems, and in medieval Danish chroni ...

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

(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 intellig ...

). 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 Northern ...

) *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 Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

) *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) *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 gra ...

) * Wiremu ( 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 c ...

) *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 Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

) *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 Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

) *Billem ( Toba Batak) *Cuglierme ( Neapolitan) *Golem, Gulielm, Ylli, Ylmer ( Albanian) *Gilen, Guilen (

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

) *Gulielmus, Vilhelmus, Willelmus, Gullelmus, Gullielmus, Villelmus (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...

) *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 language, French) *Guildhelm (Old Dutch) *Guilhem (Occitan language, Occitan) *Guillem, Guim (Catalan language, Catalan) *Guillén (Aragonese language, Aragonese) *Guillermo (Spanish language, Spanish) *Guilherme (Portuguese language, Portuguese) *Guillerme (Galician language, Galician) *Gwilym (Welsh language, Welsh) *Gwilherm (Breton language, Breton) *Gugghiermu (Sicilian language, Sicilian) *Gllâome (Modern Norman language, Norman) *Uilliam (Irish language, Irish) *

(Irish language, Irish) *Illiam (Manx language, Manx Gaelic) *Uilleam (Scottish Gaelic) *وِلْيَم – William (Arabic) *Уилиам – Uiliam (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian) *װֶעלװֶעל – /ˈvelvel/ (Yiddish) *Villem, Villu (Estonian language, Estonian) *Вильгельм, Уильям – Vil'gel'm, Uil'yam (Russian language, Russian) *Вільгельм, Вільям – Vil'hel'm, Vil'yam (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian) *Уільям, Вільям – Uiĺjam, Viĺjam (Belarusian language, Belarusian) *Villem – Estonian language, Estonian *Vilhelm (Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian, Romanian language, Romanian,

) *Vilhelmo (Esperanto) *Vilhelms (Latvian language, Latvian) *Viliam (Slovak language, Slovak) *Viljem (Slovene language, Slovene) *ויליאם – /ˈviljam/ (older propronunciation), /ˈwiljam/ (contemporary) (Hebrew) *Vilim (Croatian language, Croatian) *Вилим (Serbian language, Serbian) *Vilém (Czech language, Czech) *Vilmos (Hungarian language, Hungarian) *Viljams, Vilhelms, Vilis (Latvian language, Latvian) *Vilius, Viliumas, Vilhelmas (Lithuanian language, Lithuanian) *Viljami, Ville, Vilho, Viljo (Finnish language, Finnish) *Vilhjálmur (Icelandic language, Icelandic) *Vilhjálmur, Viljormur (Faroese language, Faroese) *Vilhjálmr (

) *Vilko (Croatian language, Croatian) *Vilyam, Vilyım (Turkish language, Turkish) *Vėljams (Samogitian dialect, Samogitian) *Γουλιέλμος (Wouliélmos) (Greek language, Greek) *ܘܠܝܡ (Wil-yam) (Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Assyrian) *Գուլիելմոս (Goulielmós) (Armenian language, Armenian)

People named William

References

{{Authority control English-language masculine given names English masculine given names