Why williams are called bill

Dick, of course, is the only rhyming nickname that stuck over time. And boy did it stick. There are many theories on why Bill became a nickname for William; the most obvious is that it was part of the Middle Ages trend of letter swapping.

Much how Dick is a rhyming nickname for Rick, the same is true of Bill and Will. Because hard consonants are easier to pronounce than soft ones, some believe Will morphed into Bill for phonetic reasons. The name Henry dates back to medieval England. Curiously, at that time, Hank was a diminutive for John. So how do we get Hank from Henry? Well, one theory says that Hendrick is the Dutch form of the English name Henry.

Henk is the diminutive form of Hendrick, ergo, Hank from Henk. Hanks were hugely popular here in the States for many decades, though by the early 90s it no longer appeared in the top 1, names for baby boys.

But Hank is making a comeback! In , it cracked the top 1,, settling at By it was up to The name Jack dates back to about 1, and was originally used as a generic name for peasants. Over time, Jack worked his way into words such as lumberjack and steeplejack.

Even jackass, the commonly used term for a donkey, retains its generic essence in the word Jack. Of course, John was once used as a generic name for English commoners and peasants, John Doe which could be why Jack came became his nickname. But the more likely explanation is that Normans added -kin when they wanted to make a diminutive.

Page 1 of 2 1 2 Last Jump to page: Results 1 to 10 of Thread: Why is a guy named William called Bill. Thread Tools Show Printable Version. From Birth to Death. Found one today. Bill in Melbourne. Graham Knight. I have a child named Willie on his birth cert in and on his death cert less than a year later, whether he would have adopted a different name had he lived to adulthood I don't know.

The best explanation I could find is that it stems from a sort of rhyming slang, it was common years ago to shorten a name and sometimes change the first letter to make it into something different, Will iam to Bill, Rob ert to Bob etc Originally Posted by Graham Knight. I heard from somewhere that Richard was shortened to Dick. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account?

Harry Potter Wiki Explore. Rowling Story. I know a guy named William, and he goes by Billy. That's pretty common.