Etymology

Proper noun

1. popular since the Norman Conquest.

Quotations

• 1605 William Camden, Remains Concerning Britain, John Russell Smith, 1870, p.98:

  This name hath been most common in England since King William the Conquerour,insomuch that upon a festival day in the Court of King Henry the Second, when Sir William Saint-John, and Sir William Fitz-Hamon, especial Officers, had commanded that none but of the name of William should dine in the great Chamber with them, they were accompanied with a hundred and twenty Williams.

• 2004 Christopher Wood, California, Here I Am, TwentyFirst Century Publishers Ltd, ISBN 1904433219, page29-30:

  By the same token I should probably have called myself 'Bill'. With a name like William you have choices. Very handy for us chameleons. 'William' is stern and dignified. A little austere and unapproachable. He conquers things. It is what my mother calls me when she is angry with me.