William Bowe

Sebastian
Adam
Jacob

No, I’m not. He’s eight or nine.

Bill Bowe, Dildo, no

I know a French William (William in his passport, not Guillaume). He says his mum just liked the name, it was more trendy than Guillaume.

Checking the stats, William has been more popular in France than Guillaume since about 2008: www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/3532172

Yes, George is pronounced completely different in Germanic languages (two hard Gs) and therefore also doesn’t travel well, like William.

@Lollylavender , George is popular in lots of countries too but I wouldn't say it was international for pretty much the same reasons as you give.

William doesn't work with the surname anyway.

We all have our personal biases @Lollylavender . I’d just love to see all the more “timeless” names used more, including William- all the boys where I live seem to be Theo, Leo, Noah etc. Short and very trendy. Personally I’d be just as happy if the OP decided to use Alexander, Thomas, Joseph etc instead. Bring back the classics! 🤣

All I can base it on is the data I’ve seen - William is definitely Top 100 in about a dozen countries (including non English speaking ones like Sweden, Denmark and Belgium etc) and seemly very well used according to colleagues in lots of African and Asian countries that we don’t have the data for (even if it is not the name they were registered with at birth). If that doesn’t count as fairly “internationally popular”, then what does? 🤷‍♀️There are thousands and thousands of names out there and only a small amount seem to have similar stats to William.

I can’t easily speak as to pronunciation as opposed to written stats, because I’m partially deaf. Even where I live I think the pronunciation seems to vary between “Wih-lee-um”, “Wih-lee-am”, “Will-yum”, “Will-yem” etc. So I wouldn’t be at all surprised if pronunciation isn’t identical everywhere in countries even where they pronounce the W with a “V” sound.

@ Alexandrine,I’m from one of the European countries you mention (and also speak German & French) and can assure you that the English name William is not pronounceable for most native speakers. It’s more like Vill-ee-am. And you probably know how Guillaume is pronounced! I don’t know how popular it currently is in various African ex UK colonies.

You may be biased, but William is definitely not an ‘international’ name.

@HugoYorway And you then agreed that it was popular in Sweden and Denmark and why it might be popular in African countries. But to you Sweden, Denmark and parts of Africa (plus parts of Asia, as well as Australia, New Zealand, USA, Ireland etc) don’t count as international? 🤣

No, I am not a teacher. But to honest, I hope you do not have/are not involved with children at all, since your nastiness about something as simple as a discussion about name is really quite disturbing. Having a bad day are you? I won’t engage with you further.

@Alexandrine , if you scroll up you'll see that I said it wasn't 'very international'.
I didn't say 'it is popular in African countries for colonial reasons'.

The names you hear in schools depend on where you are and the demographic of the area. The names most popular where I am are not the nationally popular ones.

I hope you are not a teacher given your ability to miscomprehend.

I know a William who’s 18 and his nickname is Bilbo.
harry is as bad as Jim, Al.
something like Freddie/ Francis / Daniel would work?

Why wouldn’t there be a Harry Bow?

Haribo sweets have only really been available in the UK since the mid 90s!

i think you could just lean into it and affectionately give him bilbo as a nn

But you just said it wasn’t popular internationally? But are now agreeing it is popular in African countries for colonial reasons and in places like Sweden and Denmark (not to mention all the English first language countries and some of Asia where they also sometimes chose an “English” name as well as a native one). Make up your mind 🤣

All the Gwilyms I know personally are over 50, I rarely hear it in schools compared to William/Wiliam.

live in Wales so it’s slightly different here in terms of popularity (although Gwilym isn’t that popular either)
Gwilym is quite popular with Welsh speakers (especially as a middle name) as is Wiliam.

William is very popular in Sweden and Denmark. Many of the African countries are former colonies.

@Alexandrine , look on websites like Nameberry and Behind The Name if you want to see stats collected in one place Nameberry isn't reliable (and is rubbish). Behind the Name is better.
If you want the official stats look for something like 'official baby names Finland 2024' or similar.

I can’t do links on phone but look on websites like Nameberry and Behind The Name if you want to see stats collected in one place, rather than just basing it on opinion - although if you search for various countries Top 100 lists it will come up too. African countries can be harder to find the data for - I’m basing my experience there on talking to a lot of colleagues. They often have a tribal name and a “English” one and William is very popular (yes, along with names like Henry).

Not quite but William was on my boys list at the time amongst lots of other names because I wanted both a timeless name and an international one so did masses of online research - I even asked lots of questions of friends and colleagues from various countries.

It’s one of the most recognised names boys internationally along with Alexander, Max, Thomas, Joseph (and an handful of other Biblical names). I loved timeless James and Edward too but those didn’t work internationally. If you look at the most popular names lists including from Scandinavia and some of the African countries, William (this spelling) is on a surprising number of them. What stats have you seen to show it isn’t? Or are you just basing it on opinion?

I am aware of lots variants like the original Wilhelm and Guillaume, but that doesn’t mean the William spelling isn’t well known in those countries too. I live in Wales so it’s slightly different here in terms of popularity (although Gwilym isn’t that popular either) but I work internationally so needed names that work wherever - and William seems to.

@Lollylavender , I think she has a child named William herself and wants to believe it's international.

I think it is a name that travels ok because of famous Williams or Bills., and because of the local forms of the names. Henry or Richard are probably comparable.
They're 'royal' names!

@AlexandrineWilliam is not at all an ‘international’ name! It’s Wilhelm in German (pronounced like Vilhelm), Vilhelm in Swedish, Guillame in French!!!

I would say it’s one of the LEAST well travelled names!

@Alexandrine . 'fairly unique' is not possible.

You will find it’s a mix. As even in countries like those that have their own variation too, the William spelling can also be well used (or even more popular, such as in Scandinavia as I mentioned and also in some African countries) . It’s actually a fairly unique non Biblical name in that regard and is likely due to Shakespeare being the most translated literature worldwide other than the Bible and still mandatory in most schools. It might be part of the reason that William is the only name apart from Thomas that has never left the Top 50 here (since we stated keeping records) - it’s international use/recognition.

@Alexandrine , very international - not really. Most languages have their own version e.g. Wilhelm, Willem, Guillermo, Guglielmo.

@Climbinghigher , No-one uses Bill anymore. The stats suggest otherwise. Billy, Bill .

No-one uses Bill anymore. William is fine. We nearly had a William but the Willy link with our surname was an accident waiting to happen. I think your surname is fine with it. Tbh none of the my kids friends called William ever had Willy issues to deal with. No more than usual name messing around.

It’s very international- it’s top 100 in over a dozen countries and is spelt as William too in many non -English speaking ones (the Scandi ones for example where it is Top 10 popular).

None of the Williams I know in primary school get regularly teased with “Willy” - the name is still too popular/well used for something like name bullying (I mean I’m sure it gets mentioned once or twice but it’s like “smelly Ellie” or something, it’s fairly uncommon and hasn’t hurt use of the name).

I personally don’t think “Will” being a word is at all problem- lots of names are also words. And at the time kids are still learning more basic words (how to spell, use of them etc), most Williams in primary still go by their full names anyway -ime the nn “Will” is more late primary/senior school.

The only issue for me with the name could be that despite it falling in numbers every year, at most senior schools (especially all boys ones) there might still be several. But that could be said for lots of names.