New Name... Willem

magpiebride61210

I am from a majority Irish family, both sides. A little Scottish and French, but mostly Irish. We look it too. My husband is Scottish, with a very scottish last name. So when thinking of names last night with my parents over dinner, my dad suggested we try to find something more fitting to the Scottish last name the baby will have. He suggested Willem (as in sounds like William, but not quite). I looked it up, and it's a Dutch name but we really like it and have added it to our list.

 Willem David

 

what do you think?

 

 

k*princess

I like it... I prefer William, but Willem is not bad. But I think a lot of people will assume it is William and some might assume it was a clever variant of William that you made up.

mr14

NMS - I think people will think you misspelled William. 

equinus

I think it's cute, and I don't think it sounds made up, isn't there that actor Willem DaFoe?

RockysLove

ebille:

I think it's cute, and I don't think it sounds made up, isn't there that actor Willem DaFoe?

Yup!  I like it.  If people assume it's William, that's their issue.  They should watch Boondock Saints and get over it. 

HAFranklin

RockysLove:

ebille:

I think it's cute, and I don't think it sounds made up, isn't there that actor Willem DaFoe?

Yup!  I like it.  If people assume it's William, that's their issue.  They should watch Boondock Saints and get over it. 

I totally agree!

inlovewithB

mr14:

NMS - I think people will think you misspelled William. 

Sorry, but this. He will be growing up in America. 

branleigh84

What about Liam? Our uncle is from Ireland....we love his name!

mr&mrswelch

I like it.

andrea922

inlovewithB:

mr14:

NMS - I think people will think you misspelled William. 

Sorry, but this. He will be growing up in America. 

As William isn't an American name either this is kind of a moot point.

Willem is not unheard of. It is not a name I would choose but I don't hate it.

shopgirl_07

To me, Willem sounds very ethnic, not sure it really goes with an Irish or Scottish last name. I'm really not a fan, I much prefer William.

Soto Pop

mr14:

NMS - I think people will think you misspelled William. 

this!

still_a_bride

I like it and know a family whose last name is Willem.  However, I knew a man who is Dutch and that's his name...but it's pronounced "vil-lem."  

 I like it, but think it could be confusing since William is SO popular right now.  Also, people who know the original Dutch name would probably pronounce it as a V instead of W.  

krista613

i like it but it doesnt sound scottish and if that is what you are going for, it doesnt work.

KeriMichaelMarie

Love, love, love! Willem was on our long list. Great name!!!

TheSkimmy

I like it!

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jallascalla

I like it, it is not that unusual, reminds me of the artist Willem De Kooning (who was Dutch). 

JennaNAaron

I don't like Willem....I feel like people would often think it was a misspelling of William

welshgirl

I like William. I have a William. (Yes it's popular, it's one of those names that always seem to be pretty popular.) Willem is a fine name, but it doesn't match the Irish/Scottish connection. And I agree - it's not Wil-lem, it's Vil-lem. So that bugs me on a semantics level.

Quizzle

I like it. I thought of Willem Dafoe, too.

 

I wouldn't look sideways at it. It might cause some confusion, but it doesn't strike me as misspelled.

 My dad's middle name is Wilhelm which is another option, but I like Willem better. I agree that it doesn't strike me as Irish/Scottish though.

jlw559

feffy11:

I agree that people will think his name is William, but who really cares? On another note, I thought you were going for Wilhelm.... I think it's a good name, go for it.

Mostly this since Wilhelm is my maiden name. I do know that Willem is an actually name, I just see "Wil" and fill in "helm" automatically and then I did a double check.

I would be wary of the pronunciation though because in Germanic languages W's are pronounced as V's.

That.Just.Happened

I like it.  I like it WAY better than William.