International Variations of William

Liam is the top boys' name in the US, holding the Number 1 spot for the past five years and also ranking as one of the most popular boys' names around the western world.

Wolf is a name with a split personality. It can be seen as one of the fierce animal names, like Fox and Bear and Puma, with a touch of the werewolf, or it can be viewed as a quieter, Wolf Blitzer kind of name, fairly common in German (where is pronounced Vulf) and Jewish families, sometimes as a short form of Wolfgang, or even Wolfram or Wolfhart.

This dignified German form of William belonged to two German Emperors and Kings of Prussia, as well as a host of other important historical figures. These include composer (Wilhelm) Richard Wagner, philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, and physicist Wilhelm Roentgen, who discovered the X-ray. It now sounds rather dated in Germany, however, having dropped out of the Top 20 there in the late 1920s and continuing to decline since.

Common in Holland, the appealing Willem (as in de Kooning and Dafoe) makes William fresh and distinctive.

Common in Holland, the appealing Willem (as in de Kooning and Dafoe) makes William fresh and distinctive.

As with Guillaume (see above), Liam, Willem, and Wilhelm, everyday Williams in their own countries, Guillermo is a captivating possibility here. Giermo, Gigermo, Gijermo, Gillermo, Gillirmo, Giyermo, Guermillo, Guiermo Guilermón, Guille, Guillelmo, Guillermino, Guillo, Guirmo, Gullermo, Llermo, Memo, Quillermo.

The Welsh version of William is almost unheard-of across, but it's fairly straightforward and could make a good heritage choice or alternative honor name.

An everyday name in France, a charismatic possibility here.

The way Wilhelm is pronounced anyway, so a pointless spelling variation.

A spelling that would definitely attract a lot of attention -- and a certain amount of confusion as well.

William is a stylish classic right now, and while translating many classic names into Italian makes them instantly cooler and more attractive, this is one exception: Guglielmo presents pronunciation problems for the English speaker, suggesting the less-than-cool word "googley" followed by the even-less-cool-than-that Elmo.

Most Americans would take the easy way out and spell it Willem, as in artist de Kooning and actor Dafoe.

Substituting the V for the W sounds almost comedic to the American ear.

An intriguing way to spin an old standard. Pronounced with a hard G: gee-yem.