Etymology
William is related to the 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 of *''wiljô'' "will, wish, desire" and *''helmaz'' "helm, helmet".Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. 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 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 Hrēodbeorht, which by regular sound changes would have developed into something along the lines of "Reedbart"), Richard, Roger (the English cognate was Hroðgar), and Henry (all of Germanic origin and may have been transmitted through the Normans' use of Old French). 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) *Wilhelm ( German, Polish, Swedish) *Willem, Wilhelmus, Wim ( Dutch, Frisian, Low German) *Willem, Wilhelm ( Afrikaans) * Wiremu ( Maori) *Willelm ( Old English) *Williama ( Hawaiian) *Wilhelmus ( Indonesian) *Wëllem ( Luxembourgish) *Walaam ( Persian) *Wiliyom, Wiliyem ( Bengali) *Vĩnh Liêm, Vĩnh Lâm ( Vietnamese) *Billem ( Toba Batak) *Cuglierme, Gugliemo ( Neapolitan) *Golem, Gulielm, Ylli, Ylmer ( Albanian) *Gilen, Guilen ( Basque) *Gulielmus, Vilhelmus, Willelmus, Gullelmus, Gullielmus, Villelmus ( Latin) *Guglielmo ( Italian) *Guillaume ( French) *Guildhelm ( Old Dutch) *Guilhèm, Guilhem, Guilherme, Guilhèume, Guilhaume, Glhaume ( Occitan) *Guillem, Guim ( Catalan) *Guillén ( Aragonese) * Guillermo ( Spanish) * Guilherme ( Portuguese) *Guillerme ( Galician) *Gwilym ( Welsh) *Gwilherm ( Breton) *Gugghiermu ( Sicilian) *Gllâome (Modern Norman) *Uilliam ( Irish) * Liam ( Irish) *Illiam ( Manx Gaelic) * Uilleam ( Scottish Gaelic) *وِلْيَم – William ( Arabic) *Уилям – Uiliam ( Bulgarian) *װֶעלװֶעל – /ˈvelvel/ ( Yiddish) *Villem, Villu ( Estonian) *Вильгельм, Гильом, Уильям – Vil'gel'm, Gil'yom, Uilyam ( Russian) *Вільгельм, Вільям – Vil'hel'm, Vil'yam ( Ukrainian) *Уільям, Вільям – Uiĺjam, Viĺjam ( Belarusian) * Vilhelm ( Danish, Norwegian, Romanian, Swedish) *Vilhelmo ( Esperanto) * Vilhelms ( Latvian) *Viliam ( Slovak) *Viljem ( Slovene) *ויליאם – /ˈviljam/ (older pronunciation), /ˈwiljam/ (contemporary) ( Hebrew) *Vilim ( Croatian) *Вилијам ( Serbian) *Vilém ( Czech) *Vilmos ( Hungarian) *Viljams, Vilhelms, Vilis ( Latvian) *Vilius, Viliumas, Vilhelmas ( Lithuanian) *Viljami, Ville, Vilho, Viljo ( Finnish) *Vilhjálmur ( Icelandic) *Vilhjálmur, Viljormur ( Faroese) *Vilhjalmr ( Old Norse) *Vilko ( Croatian) *Vilyam, Vilyım ( Turkish) *Vėljams ( Samogitian) *Γουλιέλμος (Gouliélmos) ( Greek) *ܘܠܝܡ (Wil-yam) ( Assyrian) *Գուլիելմոս (Goulielmós) ( 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