William

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*wiljô“will”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*Wiljahelmaz
3. Old High German · derived fromWillahelm
4. Anglo-Norman · derived fromWillame
5. Middle English · inherited fromWilliam
6. English todayWilliam

From Middle English William, from Anglo-Norman Willame, from Old High German Willahelm, from Proto-Germanic *Wiljahelmaz (> Latin Gulielmus), from Proto-Germanic *wiljô (“will”) + *helmaz (“helmet”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European roots *welh₁- (“to choose, wish, want”) and *ḱel- (“to cover, conceal, save”), respectively. Cognate with Dutch Willem, German Wilhelm, etc.; cognate borrowings outside of Germanic include Guillaume and Guillermo.

Words from the same roots