William Gilliland

(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.

Scottish and northern Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Gille Fhaoláin (Scottish) or Mac Giolla Fhaoláin (Irish) ‘son of the servant of St Faolán’. Compare McClellan. Woulfe thinks that the Irish version died out and all modern forms were taken to Ulster from Scotland.