Comments for the name William

In the US, often pronounced in two syllables (not three) as WILL-yum or WILL-yem. [noted -ed]

What a great name, it will never get old.

I love this name. It reminds me of a strong, good-willed person, though it sounds kind of fancy. But it's still one of my favorite names.

I knew a man named William, and he said that the name meant "Great Protector", and I think that is a worthwhile goal to live up to! When I think of the name William, I think of someone strong, yet tender and kind. A man with honor, integrity, and valor!

My Father's name was William and it is a very strong masculine name. Very dignified. I think it is a great name.

Justice William Rehnquist, who recently passed away, bore this name. Justice Rehnquist was a United States jurist who served as an associate justice in the U.S. Surpreme Court from 1972 to 1986, when he was appointed chief justice (born 1924).

I think William is a great name. It's simple and dignified. It was also the name of my late maternal grandfather. He was a great guy, and I've decided to name my first son after him.

One very famous person who bore this name was William Wallace the great Scotish hero.

The great Will Smith is named, "William". He is awesome.

Such a great name, it will never go out of style. It has a very strong and respectable connotation, I always think of Prince William!

As bearer of this name I have looked up its meaning on a number of different occasions. The most common definition I have found is "protector" which really appeals to me. I am the eldest child of three, and I have always found it to be my duty to protect my younger brother and sister. I am also very protective of other family members and close friends. I've always wondered if my name has had some sort of affect upon my character, or if my personality just happened to coincide with the name's meaning.

As a bit of a side note, Brad Pitt’s first name is actually William. I don’t really know what that has to do with anything, but I thought that was kind of neat.

I have a son named Justin William and I think it is a very strong name. He is also very nice looking. Both the names are beautiful.

Famous bearer is Prince William of England of course! The future king.

William V is probably the name that will be used by the actual Prince William of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor), when he becomes King of Canada.

Clark Gable's birth name was William Clark Gable.

William T. Sherman was a Union General in the American Civil War.

Well, William is a family name on my mother's side in each generation at least twice for the past 100 years or so. It is my brother's middle name along with my cousin, uncle and gradfather. My mother's name is Wiliamson so The traditionally family name is William Bryant Wiliamson, as the oldest of my mother's children it has carried to me to name my future son William. I think it is a good name but a little overused, and I don't like the nickname Billy, Bill or Will.

William is a good name for an old man, whereas Billy sounds more like a little boy.

William Shakespeare is a famous bearer! I'm proud of my self because I remember that. :-D

Wilhelm Rontgen, the man who discovered X-Rays, bore a more etymologically correct form of this name.

William is the name of the lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas.

William was the name of the first Lycan (werewolf) in the "Underworld" movies.

Famous bearer is William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States.

Famous bearer is William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the United States.

Famous bearer is William Wordsworth, a British romantic poet.

William Moseley who plays Peter Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a famous bearer of the name.

William Moseley is a great actor and I hope to see more of him soon!

I don't really have an opinion about this name, but I think it is too grown-up sounding for a baby! I prefer the nickname Will to Bill, but Billy to Willy. A family I know with lots of Williams on both the maternal and paternal sides got the suggestion to nickname their baby Liam, which I thought was a good idea.

Thankfully, a person is a baby for very little of his actual life! I wish more people would remember that when giving their children names.

I like the nicknames Will and Liam, but not Bill, Billy, or Willie. I also love William by itself.

4 famous bearers are presidents: William H. Taft, William Henry Harrison, William "Bill" Clinton, and William McKinley.

My dad's name is William but goes by Bill. I prefer the nickname Will for this name. I don't particulary like any of the other nicknames for it.

Another famous bearer is explorer William Clark.

Classic name that will never burn out. It is smart and fun. I prefer Will over Bill as a nickname. Good name!

William "Will" Turner is from Pirates of the Carribean.

William is a great name for a boy. A true classic. I don't like most of the nicknames for this name, I would either keep it as William or Will or maybe Liam but that's it.

This is my uncle's name and my great-grandfather's name. I really like this name; it's very strong and masculine and I like the short form Will. It reminds me of a handsome man with black hair and ice-blue eyes!

Emeraldstar, that's funny! Both my dad and grandpa had black hair and ice blue eyes and are - or in grandpa Bill's case, were - named William. It's my little brother's name, too, but he had brown eyes like Mom.

I really like this name, it's strong, masculine and a timeless classic.

I have an Uncle called William though he prefers to be called Bill. I also have a 6 year old cousin called William who is very loud and full of energy and his name suits him prefectly.

William Jones is a main character in the obscure manga Victorian Romance Emma.

Famous Danish-American actor is William Petersen (Grissomek from CSI).

William is Brad Pitt's real first name.

William Beckett is the front man of The Academy Is.

Prince William the Silent of Orange-Nassau was born is the 1530s and was said to have liberated the Dutch from Spain. The Holland national anthem is written about him.

I can't believe nobody has mentioned William Thomas Riker, first officer of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Riker is a good man, but rather stubborn. He seems to be a woman magnet as well, but he ends up with Deanna Troi.

A famous bearer is William Wilberforce who abolished slavery in Great Britain.

I really like this name. It seems like one of those names that will never go out of style. I think William and Alexander would make a good sibset. I never liked the nickname Billy before (just Will or Liam), but I recently met a boy whose name was shortened to Billy, and since then I've liked it a lot, since he is quite an intriguing character. It's also very fun to say "William Turner!". :)

William H. Bonney AKA Henry McCarty AKA Billy The Kid is perhaps the most well known outlaw in American history and his death is still being investigated to this day.

My husband is called William and it was my favorite man's name before I met him. If we have a son we'd also call him William. He gets called Will a lot though. One of his friends calls him Bill which I think is horrid!

William Bradford (1590-1657) was one of America's founding fathers. He was governor of the colony of Plymouth and had a reputaion for dealing fairly with both colonists and Indians.

William's earlier non-Norman form, Wilhelm, was present in England long before the Norman conquest and can be found in the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies, so I think it's slightly misleading to say the name was introduced by the Normans.

I think this name is very nice and strong. I really like the nicknames Will or Willy/Willie for William. However, I don't like the nicknames Bill or Billy. No wonder it has been so popular throughout the years.

Fitzwilliam Darcy is the man who is madly in love with Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen's Novel "Pride and Prejudice".

William is Bill Weasley's real name. I love this name, in my opinion. It sounds formal, and yet simple. Perfect, really.

Actors Parker Stevenson & Kirstie Allen have a son William Parker (1992).

I was more or less forced to name my son William because my husband had his heart set on naming his son William IV. (He was William III.) It wasn't what I would have chosen on my own. I felt that it had been way too common for so many centuries but I did think that it had fallen out of style in recent years. So I'm surprised to see by the popularity chart that it has never been out of the top twenty! I am happy to see all the positive comments about it on this site and I have to say that I do agree with them now. The name has grown on me over the past twenty-one years (the age my son is now.) Our William goes by Will. He likes his name and I can't imagine him having any other now.

Actors Mary-Louise Parker and Billy Crudup have a son William Crudup, born 7 January 2004.

A true classic name, I couldn't help but name my son this.

In the movie "The Patriot" the main character's youngest son's name is William, but I do not know who plays him in the movie. I like this name.

In the stage musical 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee', William Barfee is the name of a competitor. In the initial 2005 Broadway production, the character was portrayed by Dan Fogler. Fogler won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for the role, the only cast member to win.

Dreadfully boring and overused! Bah! This must be the name of hundreds of thousands of men who were unwanted children. Parents either pick this name in honor of a relative or a famous person, which can be one way of getting it over with as fast as possible, or because they don't feel like wasting time thinking about the name of that little creature that they feel is only a burden anyway. Fair enough, this is not a bad name at all. It's just that it's not exactly an imaginative choice. There are already far too many Bills, Billys, Wills, etc. Many of these people are obnoxious. Think Bill Donoghue. He's utterly obnoxious. So is Bill Bryson. Come to think of it, I can't think of a William I like.

Your comment was offensive and ridiculous. It's fine to say that William is boring, which is an opinion, and overused, which is a fact. But to go on from there and say that any baby named William is unwanted? It's ridiculous and insulting. Some people want to honor relatives, some people aren't into names, some people think a common name is best, and some people just like the name William. This doesn't mean their sons weren't wanted. My son is named William after his father, and he was very much a wanted child, thank you very much.

After William the Conqueror came around, about one in four boys in England were named after him.

Love the name - a very stong, proud (in the good sense) name. Always sounds classic.

Number 11 for boys in 2005. I love this name, and I also like the nickname Will.

A good, strong, wholesome name for a little boy.

Christa Miller and Bill Lawrence have a son William Lawrence, who was born on 3rd January, 2003.

William Beckett, lead singer for The Academy Is... (1985-)

William "Billy" Corgan Jr., the vocalist and guitarist of the Smashing Pumpkins, bears this name.

A famous bearer of the name is actor William Powell.

William Thatcher is the main character in the movie "A Knight's Tale", based on the famed story "The Knight's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales".

William Shatner is most famous for his role as Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek series of the late 1960's as well as several Star Trek movies later. His dramatic style is simultaneously respected as a classic character performance and parodied as campy and overdone. He currently can be seen in Priceline commercials.

William Pitt was the youngest prime minister in England's history; he worked closely with William Wilberforce for the abolition of the slave trade.

William Žabka, he was born 20th October 1965, New York City, New York, USA. William's surname is pronounced "ZHAB-kah". His surname means "little frog".

No one has mentioned William Birkin of the Resident Evil series. He's one of my favorite villains ever. I like the name, too!

One bearer is William Blake, an English poet and artist.

William Kidd (Captain Kidd) was a famous English privateer accused of turning pirate. He was tried and executed for piracy. In the 20th century, evidence that could of cleared him was found mis-filed in London archives. I read this in a book, "The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd" by Richard Zachs.

I understand why William never falls out of style. Personally, I like it for the great literary connotations.

This is one of the few "long" names that I like both as it is and as a nickname-- "Will".

Most long names I like as is but not the nicknames for them. I might use this name someday.

William is a solid name, and happens to be stringed throughout my genealogy. I'm not sure which ancestor I got it from, but I'm glad I have it.

If "Wil" means "will or desire" and "helm" means "helmet or protection," it could be taken to mean "desired protection" or "willing protector." Helm is interesting, because one of the most important things to protect is the head and more importantly the mind.

When I think of my name, William, it means to me the will and desire to protect not only others, but also myself by keeping my thoughts, words, and actions in line with my religious beliefs in Jesus Christ.

A famous bearer is American actor William Hurt (born 20 March 1950). He's best known for his Academy Award-winning performance in the film "Kiss of the Spider Woman", as well as addition nominations for "Children of a Lesser God", "Broadcast News", and more recently in "A History of Violence".

This is my father's name. Everyone calls him 'Wid.' It's not as bad as Will, Billy, Bill, etc. but William is still WAY overused and oldfashioned, too much for my liking.

The real name of the character of the vampire Spike on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Angel' was William (when he was human).

I have a friend named William and he NEVER goes by "Bill" or any other nickname. I call him Will on occasion. He is so hilarious and has the biggest smile on his face! :) It's a very classy name and it was my paternal Grandfather's name.

I love this name, but I don't like the nicknames Bill or Billy. I like the nicknames Will and Liam, though.

My baby's name is Andrew William. I was thinking of giving him the first name William, but he didn't look like a William when I first saw him. He still doesn't. It's a handsome name though. I especially like the nickname Will.

William Peter Blatty (b. 7 January 1928) is an American author, best known for his novel "The Exorcist" (1971), which was made into an Academy Award-winning film in 1973.

Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 1816 – 1 February 1875) was an English composer of the Romantic period.

The Duke of Caimbridge (June 21, 1982-)

William Tell -the Swiss national hero.

William Moseley. He played Peter in the Narnia films.

We're naming our son William after his dad and grandpa. I've liked William since before hubby, so it's awesome. We'll call him Liam though. Unless, of course, he's in trouble.

Sir William Allan (1782-1850) was a Scottish historical painter.

I love William - it's a classic name but I hate all of the nicknames! So much so that it would put me off using the name.

It's a nice, classic name, but it's not very pleasant sounding. It sounds so soft and chess-club-type. Not to mention the popularity.

I seem to be the only one that doesn't care for this name. Nothing wrong with it, I just can't put my finger on what I don't like about it. It's a nice, strong name that will age well though and has many nickname options. My favorite nickname for William is "Liam".

William Baziotes (June 11, 1912 – June 6, 1963) was an American painter influenced by Surrealism and was a contributor to Abstract Expressionism.

William Thomas Beckford (1760-1844) was an English collector, writer and eccentric. At the age of 5 he had piano lessons from the 8 year old Mozart.

Sir Henry William Beechey (1753-1839) was an English portrait painter.

William Behnes (1795-1864) was an English sculptor who made the statue Sir Henry Havelock, 1861, in Trafalgar Square, London.

Willaim Bouguereau (1825-1905) was a French painter who in 1850 won the Prix de Rome.

William de Brailes was an English manuscript illuminator in the 1200s.

Sir William Burrel (1861-1958) was a Scottish art collector.

I never liked the name William for reasons unknown to me until I met a very very nice middle aged man named this who actually went by William and not one of it's many nicknames. It's grown on me since, but ONLY the full version. None of the nicknames sound appealing to me. Will is a word, Willy synonym for penis and I've just met to many not so friendly Bill and Billys. There's always Liam, I suppose. But that's another name I just never liked.

I really just don't care for the sound of this name... I mean, I see why it's so popular as it is a classic and seems strong. And I like mostly strong classic names for boys, William is almost the only exception that I can think of.

William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) was an American painter.

I adore this name. It's strong, timeless and has a good set of nicknames (Will, Bill, Billy and Liam), and definitely one I'd consider for a future son. The only problem with the name would be "willy" jokes, but that can easily be avoided if he goes by Bill or Liam.

Popular boys name, but still one of my favourites.

William Brodrick is a British author known for the Father Anselm Mysteries.

William H. Macy (born 1950 in Miami, Florida) is an American actor.

William "Bill" Paxton (born 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American actor and film director.

William Hurt (born 1950 in Washington, DC) is an American actor.

William Bradley "Brad" Pitt (born 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma) is an American actor.

William Henry "Bill" Gates III (born 1955 in Seattle, Washington) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the current chairman of Microsoft.

William II (1056-1100), King of England from 1087 until 1100, son of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders.

William IX, Count of Poitiers (1153-1156) was the oldest son of King Henry II of England and his wife Eleonore of Aquitaine. He died age 2.

William was the son of King Stephen of England and his wife Matilda.

William (1765-1837) was the third son of King George III of the UK and his wife Charlotte. He later became King William IV.

William was the son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainaut.

William was the name of one of the sons of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainaut.

William (1721-1765) was the son of King George II of Great Britain and his wife Caroline.

William (1689-1700) was the oldest son of Queen Anne of Great Britain and her husband Prince George of Denmark.

William is a dumb, overused white person name. It has too many annoying bearers, such as stupid actor William Zabka and snobbish royal Prince William.

Don't use the name because pretty soon prince William is going to be king and a lot of people are going to use this name and it's going to be popular.

An overused and boring name.

William Clement Frawley (born 1887 in Burlington, Iowa) was an American actor.

William McChord Hurt (born 1950 in Washington, D.C.) is an American actor.

William Hall Macy, Jr. (born 1950 in Miami, Florida) is an American actor.

The Middel High German name of William is not correctly spelled; it is Willehalm, also the title of an epic poem by Wolfram von Eschnbach.

American actor James Marsden welcomed a son named William Luca Marsden on December 14, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.

This is my favorite male name. It is my brother's, father's, and grandfather's name. I think it's a very strong, classic name. My brother goes by Liam and my grandpa went by Billy. I also love Will as a nickname for William. William has a good history and is associated with a lot of strong characters. I think Francis and Patrick are good middle names for William.

I love the name William! I like the nicknames Will and Billy, but I hate Bill. It reminds me of an old man. It'd be way better if people named their kids William and called them Liam than using it as a full name, it just sounds kind of childish and trendy to me. But I'm glad to see William is #3!

The Just William books by Richmal Crompton.

I don't particularly like the name, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with it either. Will and Liam are nice nicknames and even Willie doesn't sound too bad. I however cannot stand Billy and Bill. Those nicknames seem to be less common now though. Most younger Williams go by Will.