(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: topographic name for someone who lived by a gate or ‘hatch’ (especially one leading into a forest), northern Middle English heck (Old English hæcc), or a habitational name from Great Heck in North Yorkshire, which is named with this word. Compare Hatch.
German: topographic name from Middle High German hecke, hegge ‘hedge’. This name is common in southern Germany and the Rhineland.
Possibly an Americanized spelling of French Hec(q), a topographic name from Old French hec ‘gate’, ‘barrier’, ‘fence’ (compare 1), or a habitational name from a place named with this word.
Shortened form of the Dutch surname van (den) Hecke, a habitational name from any of several places called ten Hekke in the Belgian provinces of East and West Flanders.
