William McDowell

(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 Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Dubhghaill ‘son of Dubhghall’, a byname meaning ‘dark stranger’, used among the Gaels to distinguish the darker-haired Danes from fair-haired Norwegians. According to MacLysaght, this is the Irish form of the name of the Scottish clan McDougall, borne by a branch which went to Ireland from the Hebrides as mercenaries. However, Black shows that both forms were current in Scotland.