william
n. countablen. a common traditional name for a man or a boy. Many people use the shorter versions Will, Bill, or Liam instead.
n. a masculine given name of Germanic origin, widely used in English-speaking countries. It is frequently shortened to various hypocorisms such as Will, Bill, or Billy.
My brother's name is William.
The history book mentions that William the Conqueror became the King of England in 1066.
While the legal documents required his full name to be listed as William, he preferred to be addressed by his colleagues as Bill to maintain a more approachable professional atmosphere.
From Middle English William, from Anglo-Norman Willame, from Old High German Willahelm, from Proto-Germanic Wiljahelmaz (> Latin Gulielmus), from Proto-Germanic wiljô (“will”) + helmaz (“helmet”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European roots welh₁- (“to choose, wish, want”) and *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal, save”) respectively. Cognate with Dutch Willem, German Wilhelm, etc.; cognate borrowings outside of Germanic include Guillaume and Guillermo.
As a proper noun, it is capitalized; when used to refer to multiple people with the name, it follows standard pluralization rules.