- 479
- people in the U.S. have this name Get contact details for people named William Dorsey
Meaning & Origins
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.
| 7th in the U.S. for 2011 |
English (of Norman origin): habitational name, with the preposition d(e), from Orsay in Seine-et-Orne, France, recorded in the 13th century as Orceiacum, from the Latin personal name Orcius + the locative suffix -acum.
| 771st in the U.S. for 2011 |
Nicknames & variations
Will, Will, Billy, Billie, Willy, Willie, Willbur, Willis, Bil, Wilis
Dorsett, Dorsch, Durso, Dorst, Dorsainvil, Dorsi, Darsey, Dorsa, Dorso, Dorschner
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