4 ms·

I know a few Williams (I am also one myself) and they all go by Will. I do know a guy whose middle name is William and he goes by Billy. I do not personally kno

I know a few Williams (I am also one myself) and they all go by Will. I do know a guy whose middle name is William and he goes by Billy. I do not personally know anyone who goes by Bill. I’ve only ever been called Bill once and that was by a US Border Agent which leads me to suspect this is a regional thing (the commonality, not the validity). For clarity, I am in the UK.

zdragnar 2y ago
Bill Clinton, Bill Nighy, Bill Gates, Bill Cosby, Bill Nye. Other than Nighy, maybe it's just more of an American thing?
- wrboyce 2y ago
  I suspect that is the case, yeah. I can think of maybe 3 other (famous) Bills from the UK but a lot more from the US. Bill Bailey, Bill Oddie, and Bill Shankly - alas I don’t know any of them personally!
  - zdragnar 2y ago
    Oh man, Bill Bailey would certainly be a treat to get to know!
    - Affric 2y ago
      By all accounts.
    - wrboyce 2y ago
      Absolutely! Nearest I have been is seeing him perform live, still a great pleasure; the man is a comic genius. (If you haven't watched it, he made a short series called "Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey" which was great -- I'd highly recommend if you're a fan. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31434018/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31434018/)
  - amiga386 2y ago
    Bill Shakespeare, Bill Nighy, Billy Brag, Billy Connolly, Billy Cotton, Bill Drummond, Bill and Ben, Portland Bill?
SoftTalker 2y ago
My father was William and was often called Willy as a kid but went by Bill among friends as an adult.
myself248 2y ago
From my view (in the US), it seems mostly generational. My grandfather William went by Bill, but most of the Williams in my own generation go by Will. In particular if they're the son of a Bill, they use the different nickname. I wonder if their sons will go back to Bill. I've seen this alternate nickname scheme in a family that reused women's names down the line, with "Katherine" and "Elizabeth" taking turns and wearing nicknames left and right. Grandma was Katherine, grand-aunt was Eliza, mom was Kate, aunt was Beth, daughters were Kitty and Libby...
- toast0 2y ago
  > I've seen this alternate nickname scheme in a family that reused women's names down the line I've been doing a smidge of genealogy lately, and my dad's side of the family is full of this kind of stuff. They have a tradition of first son takes dad's dad's name, first daughter takes dad's mom's name, second son takes dad's uncle's name, etc. Not a lot of middle names. My great grandmother's maiden name is the exact same as her mother's married name, although some records have a shortened form, mostly for my GGM, but sometimes for my GM. For my kid, we tried to look around and pick a name that wasn't super common, but also not unique; I think we did well with the whole name, but there were three of his first name in kindergarten; thankfully with different last names, but the initial of their last names were sequential!
Affric 2y ago
I think it’s partially a generational thing. I know a couple of “Bill”s my age but couldn’t count the “Will”s. My father and older age though there’s not one person I know called “Will” but I know countless “Bill”s

zdragnar 2y ago

Bill Clinton, Bill Nighy, Bill Gates, Bill Cosby, Bill Nye. Other than Nighy, maybe it's just more of an American thing?

wrboyce 2y ago
I suspect that is the case, yeah. I can think of maybe 3 other (famous) Bills from the UK but a lot more from the US. Bill Bailey, Bill Oddie, and Bill Shankly - alas I don’t know any of them personally!
- zdragnar 2y ago
  Oh man, Bill Bailey would certainly be a treat to get to know!
  - Affric 2y ago
    By all accounts.
  - wrboyce 2y ago
    Absolutely! Nearest I have been is seeing him perform live, still a great pleasure; the man is a comic genius. (If you haven't watched it, he made a short series called "Perfect Pub Walks with Bill Bailey" which was great -- I'd highly recommend if you're a fan. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31434018/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31434018/)
- amiga386 2y ago
  Bill Shakespeare, Bill Nighy, Billy Brag, Billy Connolly, Billy Cotton, Bill Drummond, Bill and Ben, Portland Bill?

SoftTalker 2y ago

My father was William and was often called Willy as a kid but went by Bill among friends as an adult.

myself248 2y ago

From my view (in the US), it seems mostly generational. My grandfather William went by Bill, but most of the Williams in my own generation go by Will. In particular if they're the son of a Bill, they use the different nickname. I wonder if their sons will go back to Bill. I've seen this alternate nickname scheme in a family that reused women's names down the line, with "Katherine" and "Elizabeth" taking turns and wearing nicknames left and right. Grandma was Katherine, grand-aunt was Eliza, mom was Kate, aunt was Beth, daughters were Kitty and Libby...

toast0 2y ago
> I've seen this alternate nickname scheme in a family that reused women's names down the line I've been doing a smidge of genealogy lately, and my dad's side of the family is full of this kind of stuff. They have a tradition of first son takes dad's dad's name, first daughter takes dad's mom's name, second son takes dad's uncle's name, etc. Not a lot of middle names. My great grandmother's maiden name is the exact same as her mother's married name, although some records have a shortened form, mostly for my GGM, but sometimes for my GM. For my kid, we tried to look around and pick a name that wasn't super common, but also not unique; I think we did well with the whole name, but there were three of his first name in kindergarten; thankfully with different last names, but the initial of their last names were sequential!

Affric 2y ago

I think it’s partially a generational thing. I know a couple of “Bill”s my age but couldn’t count the “Will”s. My father and older age though there’s not one person I know called “Will” but I know countless “Bill”s