Etymology
William is related to the German language, German given name ''Wilhelm''. Both ultimately descend from Proto-Germanic ''*Wiljahelmaz'', with a direct cognate also in the Old Norse name ''Vilhjalmr'' and a West Germanic borrowing into Medieval Latin ''Willelmus''. The Proto-Germanic name is a compound (linguistics), compound of *''wiljô'' "will, wish, desire" and *''helmaz'' "helm, helmet". By regular sound change, Proto-Germanic *''Wiljahelmaz'' should have also descended into English as *''Wilhelm'', but this latter form is unattested in written English of any period; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to William the Conqueror as ''Willelm'', a back-formation from the Medieval Latin variant. The form ''William'' is a back-borrowing from Norman language, Old Norman ''Williame'', a specifically northern Norman reflex of Medieval Latin ''Willelmus'' (compare the Central French cognate ''Guillaume''). The development of the name's northern Norman form can be traced in the different versions of the name appearing in Wace's ''Roman de Rou''. The first well-known bearer of the name was Charlemagne's cousin William of Gellone (755–812). This William is immortalized in the Chanson de Guillaume, and the esteem in which he was held 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 English cognate was wikt:Hreodbeorht#Old English, Hrēodbeorht, which by regular sound changes would have developed into something along the lines of "Reedbart"), Richard, Roger (the English cognate was Hroðgar), Henry (surname), Henry (all of Germanic origin and may have been transmitted through the Normans' use of Old French). The name Wilkins (disambiguation), Wilkin/Wilkins is also of medieval origin, taken from the shortened version of William (Will) with the suffix "kin" added.Variants
*Wilem, Awilemam (Koromfe language, Koromfe) *Weelum (Scots language, Scots) *Willum (Scots language, Scots) *Viliamu (Samoan language, Samoan) *Viliami (Tongan language, Tongan) *Whiriyamu (Ikalanga language, Karanga) *Whiliyamu (Northern Ndebele language, Ndebele) *Wilhelm (German language, German, Polish language, Polish, Swedish language, Swedish) *Willem, Wilhelmus, Wim (Dutch language, Dutch, Frisian languages, Frisian, Low German) *Willem, Wilhelm (Afrikaans) *Wiremu (Māori language, Maori) *Willelm (Old English) *Williama (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian) *Wëllem (Luxembourgish) *Walaam (Persian language, Persian) *Wiliyom, Wiliyem (Bengali language, Bengali) *Vĩnh Liêm, Vĩnh Lâm (Vietnamese language, Vietnamese) *Billem (Toba Batak language, Toba Batak) *Cuglierme, Gugliemo (Neapolitan language, Neapolitan) *Golem, Gulielm, Ylli, Ylmer (Albanian language, Albanian) *Gilen, Guilen (Basque language, Basque) *Gulielmus, Vilhelmus, Willelmus, Gullelmus, Gullielmus, Villelmus (Latin) *Guglielmo (Italian language, Italian) *Guillaume (French language, French) *Guildhelm (Old Dutch) *Guilhèm, Guilhem, Guilherme, Guilhèume, Guilhaume, Glhaume (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) *Liam (Irish language, Irish) *Illiam (Manx language, Manx Gaelic) *Uilleam (Scottish Gaelic) *وِلْيَم – William (Arabic) *Уилям – Uiliam (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian) *װֶעלװֶעל – /ˈvelvel/ (Yiddish) *Villem, Villu (Estonian language, Estonian) *Уильям – Uilyam (Russian language, Russian) *Вільгельм, Вільям – Vil'hel'm, Vil'yam (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian) *Уільям, Вільям – Uiĺjam, Viĺjam (Belarusian language, Belarusian) *Vilhelm (Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian, Romanian language, Romanian, Swedish language, Swedish) *Vilhelmo (Esperanto) *Vilhelms (Latvian language, Latvian) *Viliam (Slovak language, Slovak) *Viljem (Slovene language, Slovene) *ויליאם – /ˈviljam/ (older pronunciation), /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) *Vilhjalmr (Old Norse) *Vilko (Croatian language, Croatian) *Vilyam, Vilyım (Turkish language, Turkish) *Vėljams (Samogitian dialect, Samogitian) *Γουλιέλμος (Gouliélmos) (Greek language, Greek) *ܘܠܝܡ (Wil-yam) (Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Assyrian) *Գուլիելմոս (Goulielmós) (Armenian language, Armenian)People named William
See also
* *Williams (surname) *Bill (disambiguation) *Billy (disambiguation) *King William (disambiguation) *Prince William (disambiguation) *Saint William (disambiguation) *Wilhelm (disambiguation)References
{{Authority control English-language masculine given names English masculine given names Masculine given names