Where did they get Bill from William?

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: igowerf
I thought Ted was short for Theodore.

It is. JDrake's a few megs short of a gig.

Ned is what he "meant" to say...

My point still stands, though.

 

[deepred98]

Originally posted by: Hammerhead

Originally posted by: Queasy
The same way they get...Dick from Richard.

All you have to do is ask nicely

hehehe

nice for someone to add a little humor

 

[alareau]

this might shed some light. -

In the case of Bill, it is possible it arose when the name William was introduced into Ireland, where initial W often was changed to B.

http://www.behindthename.com/faq.php

 

[Bryophyte]

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.)