(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: nickname from Middle English ca ‘jackdaw’, from an unattested Old Norse ká. See also Daw.
English: nickname from Middle English cai, kay, kei ‘left-handed’, ‘clumsy’.
English: metonymic occupational name for a locksmith, from Middle English keye, kaye ‘key’. Compare Care, Kear.
English: topographic name for someone living on or near a quay, Middle English kay(e), Old French cay.
English: from a Middle English personal name which figures in Arthurian legend. It is found in Old Welsh as Cai, Middle Welsh Kei, and is ultimately from the Latin personal name Gaius.
Scottish and Irish: reduced form of McKay.
French: variant of Quay, cognate with 2.
Much shortened form of any of various names, mostly Eastern European, beginning with the letter K-.
Variant of Danish and Frisian Kai.
