A few days ago
fun_easyintelligent

Why would they call someone named William that Bill. For example, Bill Clinton whereas his name is?

William Clinton.

Top 4 Answers
A few days ago
somuchsong

Favorite Answer

I assume you mean why is he called Bill rather than Will?

A long time ago, people were more likely to repeat names over and over again in a family so nicknames were needed to tell everyone apart. There would often be more than 2 people of the same name in the same family so they’d often replace one letter of the nickname to form a new nickname.

So you get nicknames like:

William —> Will —-> Bill

Mary —> Molly —-> Polly

Richard —> Rick —> Dick, Hick

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A few days ago
doobie262
B/c Bill is another name for william, it all started back in the old days of John Smith, the british etc.
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A few days ago
βread⊆ℜumbs™
Bill literally is another name for William. Another example of this odd name exchange is how Dick is another name for Richard.
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A few days ago
Aerial
yeah, good point and why do they have the nickname “Jimmy” for the name James? I know two James that are nicknamed Jimmy, when Jamie would make more sense right?

The nickname for William should be Will….

good point. Now you have me thinking….

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