William Is Not in the Bible — It Is Germanic for “Will” and “Helmet”

No, William is not in the Bible. It is a Germanic name, Willehelm, made of willo, “will, desire,” and helm, “helmet, protection,” and it spread in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Its forms in other languages, such as Guillermo in Spanish, Guillaume in French and Guilherme in Portuguese, are not in the Bible either.

The name is missing, but its two halves are there. Paul tells Christians to take up “the helmet of salvation,” and in Gethsemane Jesus gives his own will over to his Father’s. So every William carries both in his name: a will that can be offered to God, and a helmet God himself provides.

What does William mean?

William means “will helmet,” often rendered “resolute protector.” The name was common among the Normans, and after William the Conqueror became the first Norman king of England in the eleventh century it became one of the most popular names in the country. From then until modern times it has been among the most common English names, along with John, Thomas and Robert. Liam began as its Irish short form.

Is William in the Bible?

No. No one in Scripture bears the name in any form, and no Hebrew or Greek name in the Bible translates it. Claims that William is a Jewish name, or that it corresponds to a particular Hebrew name, have no basis in its history, which is Germanic from the start.

Will and helmet in Scripture

The helmet has a history in the Bible. Isaiah describes God arming himself to bring justice: “He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head” (Isaiah 59:17). Paul takes up the image twice. He tells the Thessalonians to put on “the hope of salvation as a helmet” (1 Thessalonians 5:8), and in Ephesians he names the helmet of salvation among the armor of God: “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).

The English word “will” comes from the same Germanic root as the first half of the name. It is the word Jesus uses in Gethsemane: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

Christians named William

An early saint of the name was William of Gellone, an eighth-century cousin of Charlemagne who became a monk. Later bearers include three figures of English-speaking Protestant history.

William Tyndale made the first English translation of the New Testament from the Greek, and the first to be printed; a full edition appeared at Worms in 1526 and was smuggled into England, where the Bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall, bought up copies and had them burned. Tyndale was arrested in Antwerp in 1535 and convicted of heresy the following year. He was strangled at the stake near Brussels and his body burned, and his last words were reported as “Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes.” Estimates of how much of the King James New Testament keeps his wording range from 55 to 83 per cent.

William Wilberforce, an evangelical Anglican from 1785, led the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade for twenty years, until Parliament abolished the trade in 1807. He died in 1833, three days after hearing that the act abolishing slavery in most of the British Empire was sure to pass. William Booth, a Methodist preacher, founded what became the Salvation Army with his wife, Catherine, in the East End of London in 1865, and was its first General.

For a Christian named William, the first half of the name finds its meaning in the prayer Jesus prayed in the garden: “not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

Related reading

• Is Your Name in the Bible? A Directory of 231 Names