Will a William be called Willy?

[3babesfull]

This is not a tongue twister! I am expecting a boy next week (!) and my DH and I are rubbish at boys names. I think that I like William but my DH says that I have to consider that people will call him Willy. Is this a common problem? We really don't have any other suitable ideas!

DS2 is a Wiliam and he is Will or William. Nobody has ever mentioned Willy.

Actually what would bother me more than the Willy association is the meaning and uses of Will as in "Will, will you..."

Many Williams I've known are called 'Wullie' or 'Willie' - not Willy.HTH??

but then I live in Scotland so it's common to shorten William to 'Wullie' or 'Bill'.

Kate M calls her William "Big Willie" Fwiw

"Big Willie"

As others have said, if you're in Scotland it might be "Wullie" - but it simply isn't "funny" north of the border.

My boyfriend is a Billy - he was absolutely mortified to be called Wills by a bunch of posh Londoners he met!

All the Williams I have ever known were called Bill, except for a friend of my parents (now in his 70s) who was called Willie, but who is so upper class that the penis connection probably totally passed him by.

I have a cousin called William and he mostly gets called Will, sometimes Willy by his little Sister.

I'd worry more about the will Will confusion than the penis connection because lots of names can be made fun of with some imagination.

I have a William - known as Billy for now (only 2y6m). I imagine he'll be a Will when he is older.

It's possible he'll get called/teased Willy - but tbh most names have some possible teasing potential. I think William's a great name (obviously!).

yes

I also know a William who gets teased with Willy in my dd's class, but at that age (8) lots of kids get silly nicknames.

"No. No-one will call him Willy."

If it was only that easy - schoolboys are very imaginative with their mates' nicknames, you know .

Yes, there probably is a fair chance a William gets called Willy at some point during his schooling, but as others have said, lots of names can be turned into silly nicknames with some imagination.

The whole "Will, will you..." think reminds me that I know a (grown up) Matthew, who has to contend with plenty of snurks at the pub when he's asked "Would you like a beer Matt?" hahahaha

Slightly off topic, but it shows that other names have those sorts of problems.

Yes, beer matt is good too .

But the word "will" is used so commonly that I wouldn't use Will as a nickname because it can get confusing (e.g. Will, will you write your will). The willy thing will probably only be an issue in primary school.

Not if you use Will from the beginning.

But Will will prbobably be shortened to Willy by silly schoolchildren... perhaps better to stick with William.

haven't read the whole thread so may be repeating what someone else's said. we know of a william who was shortened to wiley which we thought was quite cool, but whatever you set as a precident will stick

My 23 year old son is called William and has NEVER been called Willy by anyone in his life!!! Since he was a teenager he has been known as Will-which is a fab name!!!