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 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), 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 (Dutch, Frisian, Low German) Willem, Wilhelm (Afrikaans) Wiremu (Maori) Willelm (Old English) Williama (Hawaiian) Wellëm (Luxembourgish) Walaam (Persian) Wiliyom, Wiliyem (Bengali) Vĩnh Liêm, Vĩnh Lâm (Vietnamese) Billem (Toba Batak) Cuglierme (Neapolitan) Golem, Gulielm, Ylli, Ylmer (Albanian) Gilen, Guilen (Basque) Gulielmus, Vilhelmus, Willelmus, Gullelmus, Gullielmus, Villelmus (Latin) Guglielmo (Italian) Guillaume (French) Guildhelm (Old Dutch) Guilhem (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) Уилиам – Uiliam (Bulgarian) װֶעלװֶעל – /ˈvelvel/ (Yiddish) Villem, Villu (Estonian) Вильгельм, Уильям – Vil'gel'm, Uil'yam (Russian) Вільгельм, Вільям – Vil'hel'm, Vil'yam (Ukrainian) Уільям, Вільям – Uiĺjam, Viĺjam (Belarusian) Villem – Estonian Vilhelm (Danish, Norwegian, Romanian, Swedish) Vilhelmo (Esperanto) Vilhelms (Latvian) Viliam (Slovak) Viljem (Slovene) ויליאם – /ˈviljam/ (older propronunciation), /ˈwiljam/ (contemporary) (Hebrew) Vilim (Croatian) Вилим (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 (Wouliélmos) (Greek) ܘܠܝܡ (Wil-yam) (Assyrian) Գուլիելմոս (Goulielmós) (Armenian) People named William See also Williams (surname) Bill (disambiguation) Billy (disambiguation) King William (disambiguation) Saint William (disambiguation) Wilhelm (disambiguation) References English-language masculine given names English masculine given names