William shortened to Liam?

[Jayne1993]

Hello, me and DH quite like William Charles for our upcoming DS, but aren’t too fond of the shortening Will. I don’t mind Bill (actually quite like it) but particularly like Liam as a shortening. Is this fine, or is Liam supposed to be a full name in its own right? Thanks

Liam is it's own name and not short for William.

Liam Gallagher is a William.

Liam Gallagher (Oasis) is really a William. I like it. But Liam is nice in its own right too.

@chateaudekaleidoscope - sorry but you're wrong. It is a shortening of William and also a name in its own right.

I have a son 'William' called Liam.
Wanted William as a family name but I not keen on Will, Billy ect but liked Liam.
Really like it as name, It is very common where I am so at least having 'william' may help him in future distinguish.
Sometimes he asks what is my real name again, likes the fact that has 2 names

I’ve never met a William shortened to Liam, I knew many growing up. Also know about 8 now, that are young children. They all go by William, Will, Wills.
I’ve always thought of Liam as a name in its own right, if you really like Liam couldn’t you just use that as your baby’s stand alone name?

Obviously you could shorten William to Liam, as said above Liam Gallagher did. But to me the obvious nn is Will.

@sweetnosugar no, I wouldn’t use Liam as the stand alone name personally, as he might need a more formal longer version (aka William) as opposed to Liam which seems more informal. Plus he would have many name choices to choose from incase he didn’t like Liam (William, Bill, Will) as opposed to just being stuck with one he didn’t like.

Really like the shortening of William to Liam. Much prefer it to the other options, go for it op!

My DDad was a William shortened to Liam too.

@Jayne1993
You’ve answered your own question, go for William on the bc then Liam as a nn, or like you said whatever nn he decides to chose.

Just to add, I think William is a fabulous name!

Of course Liam is a derivative of William . Used to be done often in Scotland.

I don’t think Liam is informal. If you’re going to call him Liam, just name him Liam

Liam is definitely a shortening for William - I know a couple. It's fine as a name, not my personal favourite but unlikely to raise eyebrows.

Go for it if you like, I know a Jonathan who is known by all and sundry as Nathan! Never thought of it as a nn for Jonathan but it’s got the letters in there, like William/Liam, so I guess it’s not totally bonkers!

Liam is it's own name and not short for William.

Eh? Of course it is

@Abadon34 I mean as I’ve already said - he may not like it so if I opt for William that leaves more possibilities for names to be known by.

@Dollywilde that’s a pretty cool nickname for Jonathan tbf! I find Jon/John a little drab imo.

I love it and think Liam is a lovely nickname from William

I think it’s fine. I prefer Billy though.

I work in a secondary school. I'm afraid that every Liam I've known has either been poorly behaved or emotionally troubled. No other name has the same difficult associations for me. Sorry!

William Charles is lovely btw

@Hellvelyn how strange! I happen to work in a primary school (not secondary) and have taught 2 Liams, both of which were quite studious and well behaved. Appears we have complete opposite experiences of the name first hand.

@123Dancewithme Bill is definitely a great nickname - not a fan of “ie”/“y” ending names though as they appear too feminine (IMO)

Liam is a name in its own right - it’s a common Irish diaspora name (it comes from the short form of the Irish version of William). Obviously no problem to use it as a nickname but I wouldn’t do so because it’s not sufficiently “formal” - it’s perfectly formal on its own