Where did they get Bill from William?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Bryophyte

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
13,430
13
81
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickname

"There are a few names for which an archaic pronunciation of the full name is preserved in the short name e.g. Rick for Richard indicates that the -ch- was originally pronounced as -ck-. Some other nicknames were created by rhyming the shortened form of the full name, such as Ted or Ned for Edward (Ed), Bill for William (Will), and Bob or Nob for Robert (Rob)."

Here's a related article that explains it a little bit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhyming_slang

The rhyming slang was used so much that it extended to people's nicknames (that's what I always heard.)