| Home > William |
♂ William
What does William mean?
William 
▼ as a boys' name is pronounced WIL-yum. It is of Old German origin, and the meaning of William is "determined protector". From wil meaning "will", "desire" and helm meaning "helmet", "protection". For a long time after the Norman conquest in AD 1066, three out of four English boys were given some form of the conqueror's name, William. Short forms and variants came into being with a common basic meaning of "will", "determined", or "resolute". William has remained a royal name in the UK for nearly one thousand years. The firstborn son of the current Prince of Wales is named William. See also Willard. Playwright William Shakespeare; actors Willem Dafoe, William Hurt, Billy Crudup, Bill Pullman; film director Wim Wenders; poet William Blake; author William Faulkner; American Presidents William H. Harrison, William H. Taft, William McKinley; Bill Clinton.
STARTS WITH Wil-
ASSOCIATED WITH determined (faithful), norman, conquest (victory)
Variations
VARIANTS Bill▼, Bille, Billie▼, Billy▼, Guglielmo, Guillaume, Guillermo, Liam▲, Vilhelm, Villem, Wilek, Wiley▼, Wilhelm, Wilhelmus, Wilkes, Wilkie, Wilkinson, Will▼, Willem, Willhelmus, Willi, Williams, Williamson, Willie▼, Willis▼, Willkie, Wills, Willson, Willy, Wilmer▼, Wilmot, Wilmott, Wilson▼, Wim
SEE ALSO Bo
OTHER FORM VIA BILL, WILLARD Willerd
FEMININE FORMS Billie, Willa, Wilmot
CREATIVE FORMS(male)
(female)
MIDDLE NAME PAIRINGS
William Jiovanni (W.J.), ..
How popular is William?
William is a very prominent first name for men (#5 out of 1220, Top 1%) and also a very prominent surname for all people (#1923 out of 150436, Top 1%). (2000 U.S. DEMOGRAPHICS)
William reached its peak rank of #2 in the U.S. in the 1910s, and is currently at #3. (2018 U.S. SSA RECORDS)
Which version is better?
Bill, Billie, Billy (#845 FROM RECENT DATA), Bo (#575), Guillermo (#752), Liam (#1), Wiley (#1437), Wilhelm, Wilkie, Will (#892), Willard, Willem, Williams, Willie (#934), Willis, Willy, Wilmer (#1682), Wilmot and Wilson (#622) are the prominent related forms of William (#3) listed in the Top 2000. Usage of these forms of William was more pronounced during 1900-1909 (ADOPTION OF 7.2%) and is now significantly diminished (ADOPTION 2%, ▼72%), with versions like William becoming less fashionable. Bo and Liam are two of the more fashionable baby names in this compilation.
Similar Names
William▼ is pronounced similarly to Eilam and Eliam. Other recommended sound-alike names are Cillian▲, Gilam, Gillian, Hallam, Killian▲, Pellam, Wallas, Wallie, Wallis, Waltham, Wickham, Wilkins, Willbur, Willes, Willess, Willet, Willets, Willett, Willey, Williss, Willkes, Willkins (see Wilkinson), Willmar (see Wilmer), Willmer, Wilmar, Windham, Wolfram and Wulfram. These names tend to be less frequently used than William.
See names in meaning and etymology.[Top]