(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 and Irish: from Middle English duk(e) ‘duke’ (from Old French duc, from Latin dux, genitive ducis ‘leader’), applied as an occupational name for someone who worked in the household of a duke, or as a nickname for someone who gave himself airs and graces.
English and Irish: possibly also from the personal name Duke, a short form of Marmaduke, a personal name said to be from Irish mael Maedoc ‘devotee (mael, maol ‘bald’, ‘tonsured one’) of Maedoc’, a personal name (M’Aodhóg) meaning ‘my little Aodh’, borne by various early Irish saints, in particular a 6th-century abbot of Clonmore and a 7th-century bishop of Ferns.
Scottish: compare the old Danish personal name Duk (Old Norse Dūkr).
In some cases, possibly an Americanized form of French Leduc or Spanish Duque.
Possibly an Americanized spelling of Polish Duk, a nickname from dukac ‘to stammer or falter’.
