Willem or Miles

[twizzlesss]

Stuck on Willem or Miles. Nn for Willem would be Bill. Anybody know any? Thoughts welcome!

Prefer Willem of the two although he will forever have to tell people that it’s Willem and not William.

@Fooshufflewickjbannanapants I mean I know people called Alan, but I wouldn't call a baby Alan. I don't understand what you mean.

There is also a high chance of Willem becoming more popular after the release of ‘a little life’ not that it should stop you choosing it! I like both names equally.

Miles

I do think Willem would be confused with William (which is a gorgeous name) so I would go for Miles/Myles.

I thought of Willem Dafoe and of Mr & Mrs Fogle.

I once met Willem Dafoe and he was the loveliest man.

I prefer the name Miles though.

I don't think anyone is suggesting you'll crumple. You'll probably lie down in the bath on Sunday and have that moment of realisation 'I shouldn't have been so horrible, and the way I doubled and then tripled down on it was unpleasant behaviour'.

Willem Dafoe’s name is actually William, but he changed it to Willem. Are you Dutch, OP?

I don’t mind Willem but he’ll be forever correcting people if you go for it. I like the nn Bill, and have never met a dog with that name.

I can imagine him being absolutely lovely!

Miles is a good name - only spell it Myles if he's going to be a banker or MP maybe.
Willem Dafoe, great name, great actor.

We have a Willem. Other than a few repeats of “no, it’s Willem” he’s had no issue reaching late teens. Likes his name. Resists most attempts made to shorten it.

Dont like either of the names very much.

I don't like the Myles spelling at all, but I do like Miles.

Miles is a lovely name.

Willem is awful.

I love Willem.

Do you have Dutch heritage? I don't dislike Willem, but it's the Dutch version of William. All the Willems I know are from the Netherlands or Belgium. If you're going to call the child Bill it seems a bit unnecessary to give an uncommon (in the UK) version of a common English name - why not just William?

And I know several Bills, ranging in age from 18 to 88 and no dogs called Bill at all. All the dogs I know are called things like Finn and Poppy and Alfie and Ted - in fact the same names as most of my children's friends.

I’ve got a Miles. It’s been a great name for him baby boy and now man. My DD has a friend called Willem in his mid-20s. He is always called Willem, not shortened. I like it. I have always assumed he must be half Dutch or something but actually that is maybe my assumption.
I do tend to think that if you plan on calling him Bill you might as well just call him William, though.

I know two human Bills and a cat Billy. And Billie Piper.

Miles is a horrible name.

@WillWillem do you have Dutch heritage if you don’t mind me asking?

I just prefer slightly more unusual names and Willem feels nice and compact/ stand alone whilst having nickname potential so I guess that’s why it would be Willem over William.

Thanks so much for all your replies. Although I’m still torn! They’re both great names!

I know several Willem’s/people who names their child Willem but I don’t live in the UK.

How are you pronouncing it - with a W like William or more of a V sound at the start?

Whaaaaaat? I have always called him William

Do you say it like Will umm?

I am pretty sure there are more Mileses than Bills around right now. Bill is v unusual on anyone under 60.

Anyway they are both nice OP. I prefer Miles but if you are using Bill day to day the Willem spelling won’t bother him.