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In the Early Middle Ages, William was popular among the Normans in the form Williame or Willaume. One notable early namesake was Saint William of Gellone (755–812), a cousin of Charlemagne who was hailed as a religious and war hero, immortalised in many medieval epic poems, notably the Chanson de Guillaume (Song of William).
It was brought to Britain in the Conquest of 1066 and was quickly taken up into popular use. William, of course was notable not only for being the name of England's new conquering king, but also that of several of his knights who fought with him at the Battle of Hastings. Several went on to hold prominent positions in British aristocracy such as William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey and William FitzOsbern, Earl of Hereford.
It is little wonder that William became the most popular male name of that era, reinforced during William II's reign in England and William the Lion in Scotland. It maintained its popularity as the #1 name right through the 11th to the 13th century. It was succeeded by John in the 14th century, but only moved to second place.
William was shortened to Will and had various pet forms during the Middle Ages, including Wilkin, Wilcock, Wilmot and Wilot.
It is possible that William was also sometimes used for girls, as was the case with Philip. There certainly are examples in Latinised records of Williamina which are very suggestive and Wilmot was used for both boys and girls, becoming much more feminine in usage by the 16th century.
Surnames derived from the name are numerous, including Williamson, Williams, Willis, Wilson, Wilcock, Wilcox, Wilkins, Wilkinson, Willet, Willings, Wilkes, Wilke and Wilkie.
From the 15th to 18th century, William consistently maintained its position at #2, though in various places it periodically took precedence over John for the top spot.
 In the 19th century things started to shift. William was once again on top, ranking at #1 from 1800 to 1910.
The changing fashions of the 20th century had quite an impact on the landscape of popular names, and the perennial classics were no longer what they were. William began to gradually decline in usage when it slipped to #9 in 1944, reaching its lowest point of #41 in 1974.
It rose again in 1984 to #34, notably after the birth of Prince William of Wales, and from then on has been gradually on the rise.
In 2002, William once again cracked the top 10 at #9 (5037 births). It has remained around that mark ever since.
In Scotland William saw less change in the 20th century, ranking #3 in both 1900 and 1950, and #16 in 1975. By the turn of the 20th century however, William had declined to the bottom end of the top 50. In 2005 it ranked #38, was #48 in 2008 and #34 in 2013.
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