William (name)

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See William for disambiguation.

William is a popular proper name of old Germanic origin. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman Conquest of 1066, and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. The modern German equivalent is "Wilhelm." It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm."

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[edit] Origins

William is derived from the Norman language, and of Germanic origin: "wil" = will, desire; "helm" = helmet, protection.[citation needed] The Old German name Wilhelm and the Old Norse name Vilhjálmr have the same roots. The Belgian name "Guildhelm" means "harnessed with a gilded helmet".

The oldest known famous bearer of the name was Saint William of Gellone; his cult spread the name throughout Europe.

[edit] 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, Richard, Roger, and Hugh (all of Germanic origin, transmitted through the Normans' use of Old French). The name was so popular, in fact, that history records an event in Normandy in 1171 where Henry the Young King held court for Christmas which included 110 knights named "William"-- the Williams had gathered in a room and refused to allow any one to eat with them, unless they were named William.

During the Middle Ages the word "cock" was used to describe a self-assured young man (taken after the image of a strutting self-assured rooster). As a result this nickname was applied to a number of names, including William which is where the name Wilcox comes from.

The name Wilkin is also of medieval origin taken from the shortened version of William (Will) with the suffix "kin" added. Kin means small or little, thus Wilkin means "Little William".

In the 16th century during the Reformation, Protestants abandoned the usage of Catholic names such as William instead using Biblical names.

According to the 1990 U.S. Census the name William is the 5th most popular first name with 2.451% of the male population (around three million). The last name Williams is the 3rd most popular last name with 0.699% of the population (around 1,747,500 people).

[edit] First Williams

Historic "first" Williams of national historic importance.

[edit] Name variants

Alternate forms include:

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