(male) Probably the most successful of all the Old French names of Germanic origin that were introduced to England by the Normans. It is derived from Germanic wil ‘will, desire’ + helm ‘helmet, protection’. The fact that it was borne by the Conqueror himself does not seem to have inhibited its favour with the ‘conquered’ population: in the first century after the Conquest it was the commonest male name of all, and not only among the Normans. In the later Middle Ages it was overtaken by John, but continued to run second to that name until the 20th century, when the picture became more fragmented.
Short forms: Will, Bill.
Pet forms: Willy, Willie, Billy.
Cognates: Irish: Uilliam. Scottish Gaelic: Uilleam. Welsh: Gwilym. German: Wilhelm. Dutch: Willem. Scandinavian: Vilhelm. French: Guillaume. Spanish: Guilermo. Catalan: Guillem. Portuguese: Guilherme. Italian: Guglielmo. Czech: Vilém. Slovenian: Viljem. Hungarian: Vilmos. Lithuanian: Vilhelmas. Latvian: Vilhelms.
English (of Norman origin): habitational name from any of several places in France called Beauvoir, for example in Manche, Somme, and Seine-Maritime, or from Belvoir in Leicestershire. All of these are named with Old French beu, bel ‘fair’, ‘lovely’ + veïr, voir ‘to see’, i.e. a place with a fine view.
English: nickname from Middle English bevere, Old English beofor ‘beaver’, possibly referring to a hard worker, or from some other fancied resemblance to the animal. The existence of patronymic forms such as Beaverson suggest that this may also have been a personal name.
Probably a translation of cognates of 2 in other languages, in particular Dutch Bever and German Bieber.
Possibly a variant of Welsh Bevan.
FOREBEARS George Beaver, a Huguenot from Alsace, came to Philadelphia, PA, in 1744.
