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= William =
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Introduction
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William is a popular given name of an old Germanic origin. It became
very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of
England in 1066, and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into
the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar
versions in English include Will, Willy, Willie, Bill, and Billy. A
common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie
or Wullie (see Oor Wullie or Douglas for example). Female forms are
Willa, Willemina, Willamette, Wilma and Wilhelmina.
Etymology
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William is related to the given name 'Wilhelm' (cf. Proto-Germanic
'*Wiljahelmaz' > German 'Wilhelm' and Old Norse 'Vilhjálmr'). By
regular sound changes, the native, inherited English form of the name
should be '*Wilhelm' as well (although the name is not actually
attested in the history of English, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
refers to William the Conqueror as 'Willelm'). That is a compound of
two distinct elements : 'wil' = "will or desire"; 'helm'; Old English
'helm' "helmet, protection"; English 'helm' "knight's large helmet".
In fact, the form 'William' is clearly identified as typical of the
Old Norman form 'Williame, Willame', because first, the English
language should have retained '(h)elm' (see common words 'helm,
helmet'), second, '-iaume' [iaʷm] (typical of Popular French, see
Guillaume) turned to '-iame' [iam] (typical of some Norman and Picard
dialects) > English '-iam'. Historically, there was first a
triphthongation of '-elm' (early Gallo-Romance form WILLELMU) into
[iaʷ] + [m] in Old Norman-French, quite similar in Old Central French
[eaʷ] + [m]. Then, the triphthong '-iau' was submitted to a
monophthongation localized on the second part of the triphthong áu
> āò > ā. For instance, this development can be followed in the
different versions of the name in the Wace's 'Roman de Rou'. or in the
Cauchois variant forms of common words such as 'osias' (plural of
'osè' "bird", older 'oisel') / Regular Norman 'oisiaus' "birds"
(French sing. 'oiseau', pl. 'oiseaux').
The spelling and phonetics 'Wi-' [wi] is a characteristic trait of the
Northern French dialects, but the pronunciation changed in Norman from
[wi] to [vi] in the 12th century (cf. the Norman surnames 'Villon' and
'Villamaux' "little William"), unlike the Central French and Southern
Norman that turned the Germanic 'Wi-' into 'Gui-' [gwi] > [gi]. The
Modern French spelling is .
The first well-known carrier of the name was Charlemagne's cousin
William of Gellone, a.k.a. Guilhem, William of Orange, Guillaume
Fierabrace, or William Short-Nose (755-812). This William is
immortalized in the Chanson de Guillaume and his esteem may account
for the name's subsequent popularity among European nobility.
English history
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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),
Richard, Roger (the English cognate was Hroðgar), Henry and Hugh (all
of Germanic origin, transmitted through the Normans' use of Old
French).
The name 'Wilkin' is also of medieval origin taken from the shortened
version of William (Will) with the suffix "kin" added.
Variants and cognates
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