Bill or William

Many people asked, "Why Billy?" or "Is your name Billy or William?".

I've faced this question a thousand times, and I bet some of you have already know the answer. Anyhow, I'll explain once again.



My name is Wei Liam, as in my real name printed on IC.

So naturally, my English name would be William. Now, why on earth I want to change my name to Billy?

Here's why. William is Bill and Bill is Billy and Billy is William. They are the same! Bill is just a nickname for William. You can check out wikipedia or thinkbabynames.com to clarify.

Bill Gates

Do you know Bill Gates, the famous Microsoft guy? His real name is William Henry Gates III. Usually in the United States, people prefer to use nickname instead of their real name.

On the other hand, UK people would prefer to use their real name, like Prince William [the firstborn son of the current prince of Wales] and William Shakespeare.

Prince William of Wales

Back to my name, I've been using Bill since very young. But I don't really like it because it sounds like electricity bill and your restaurant bill. So, not many people call me Bill except my family and my primary school's best friend's father.

Years later, I feel that Bill is not a bad name afterall. One good thing about it is that Bill is less common compared to William, which is in the top 5 most used names in US.

The not-so-rich and not-so-famous William

Well, you can call me William, Bill, Billy, Will, Liam, Willy, Wei or simply WeiLiam. But hopefully I won't be hearing anyone calling me Ah Lian.

I'm a protector! Billy, out.