The name Liam

jarbatz · August 2009

Is it common knowledge that Liam is Irish for William? We love the name Liam and its our first choice but I have seen a few posters here that are naming their son William but calling him Liam.

I like the idea of doing that since my dad's name is William but was wondering if that was weird or what you all thought of that?

Summer20 · August 2009

It's on our list that way! Plus, it's literally the last 4 letters of William so even if someone hadn't seen it before, it's not like it's a stretch. ya know?

CapeCodBride28 · August 2009

Yes it is Irish for William. So do you want to name your child William and call him Liam? I personally don't like this because they are 2 different names. Why not just name him William to honor you father?

The name Seamus is top on my list, which is a form of James, but I wouldn't call my son James.

carolinag · August 2009

liam is an irish version of william, not a nickname for william. i say pick one or the other.

jarbatz · August 2009

carolinag:
liam is an irish version of william, not a nickname for william. i say pick one or the other.

This is exactly what I thought but then I saw other people, like the pp, who are using it as nickname. Which is fine...I think its what ever you like...but my initial reaction was how you put it.

Maybe we could name him Liam William...ha ha...kidding!

We would like to honor my father but DH is not a fan of William...we'll see...maybe we'll get lucky and have a girl! :-)

mlf625 · August 2009

I know two young Williams who go by Liam, so yes, I think it's a pretty commonly used nn for William.

Mrs.Deputy · August 2009

Liam Neeson's full name is William John Neeson...he's Irish, so I would think Liam is a nn for William.

jarbatz · August 2009

Mrs.Deputy:
Liam Neeson's full name is William John Neeson...he's Irish, so I would think Liam is a nn for William.

Thanks! After seeing some of the conflicting opinions I googled it and I stand corrected.

Also found this: https://www.parenting.com/baby-names/boys/Liam

andrea922 · August 2009

Hmm, it is actually the Gaelic version of William, which means that in Gaelic the name William is Liam, not that it is short for William. It has probably morphed into a nn for William more recently though. Liam Neeson excluded, of course

wheelenl · August 2009

I'm not Irish but it's definitely considered a NN for William in most baby name guides. I don't think of Liam and William as being parallel with Seamus/Hamish and James, because Liam is seemingly a shortened derivative of William. Whether or not it actually was, I don't know.

CourtneyRDH · August 2009

Liam is a nn for William. I've talked to many people about this IRL and it's a very uncommon nn until recently in the US. It's ridiculously popular right now. I much prefer Will.

ETA:?I really dislike it as a stand alone name. It's like naming your son Will or Bill.?

sunnyday016 · August 2009

Liam was our boy name! We'll most definitely be using it if we have a DS in the future. My grandpa's name is William, so we thought this was close enough to honor him and also different enough that he would have his "own" name.

aubie96 · August 2009

If you're going to honor your dad, name him William and call him that. I guess Liam would be a nn, but it sounds completely diff from the 'liam' w/in William. Make sense? B/c that's more Will-yam.

Plus I guess I'm just not a big fan of the name Liam.

WheelerToBe · August 2009

I usually assume a person named Liam is named William. But that could just be my area..

dpdw · August 2009

Liam is not "Irish for" or "gaelic for" William. It is a nickname for William which was used primarily (if not exclusively) by the Catholics/Irish in Northern Ireland -- until it gained huge popularity in the US. I dated a guy from Belfast who went by Liam. We never called him anything but Liam. Yet, his given name was William. I asked him about it & he told me "Liam" is the nickname the Catholic/Irish boys use because William or Will or Billy are used by the Protestant/British kids. It has to do with the connection to William of Orange & how he was very much hated by the Irish/Catholics in the North.

hereandthere119 · August 2009

I love Liam for William. It's no stretch at all - the exact same letters appear. It's closer than 'Bill', in any case, and that's often a nickname for William.

andrea922 · August 2009

Actually, the Gaelic version of William is Uilliam, so I was wrong. And Liam is a nn for Uilliam, traditionally. I am not saying it is not beyond the realm that it is a nn for William, but to say it isn't a Gaelic version is wrong.

Narrative: Uilliam is the Gaelic form of William, which ultimately derives from a Germanic expression.

LIAM

Gender: Masculine

Usage: Irish

Pronounced: LEE-am [key]

Irish short form of WILLIAM

jarbatz · August 2009

Wow - I didn't realize this would cause such a debate...I guess at the end of the day, it comes down to preference....I mean, these days pretty much anything goes as far as naming your child!

Thanks to everyone for chiming in!

shannm · August 2009

I have a Liam and I knew that it was a derivative of William. I think using it as a nn is cool too but I really like Will too. And Liam seems a little formal for a nn, for me anyway.

shannm · August 2009

jarbatz:

carolinag:
liam is an irish version of william, not a nickname for william. i say pick one or the other.

Maybe we could name him Liam William...ha ha...kidding!

There is a nestie who did this without realizing it....she jokes and says that she named DS william william.

lynsey851 · August 2009

dpdw- the catholics are in the south, protestants in the north, fyi...

But I love the name Liam...its DH's fathers name. i think if you want to honor your father William, Liam would be a great alternative to the name if you dont like William. You can name him Liam and say the name was derived from your father. very nice. Anyways, my DH is from Ireland and we're thinking of maybe using an Irish name. He's Martin Robert John Ryan...haha so many 'first' names!!

andrea922 · August 2009

lynsey851:
dpdw- the catholics are in the south, protestants in the north, fyi...

But I love the name Liam...its DH's fathers name. i think if you want to honor your father William, Liam would be a great alternative to the name if you dont like William. You can name him Liam and say the name was derived from your father. very nice. Anyways, my DH is from Ireland and we're thinking of maybe using an Irish name. He's Martin Robert John Ryan...haha so many 'first' names!!

There are Catholics in North Ireland. Have you ever been to Belfast? There are areas that are Catholic and areas that are Protestant and that is where there used to be huge problems. There is now a peace wall between the 2. She wasn't wrong.

dpdw · August 2009

lynsey851:

dpdw- the catholics are in the south, protestants in the north, fyi...

But I love the name Liam...its DH's fathers name. i think if you want to honor your father William, Liam would be a great alternative to the name if you dont like William. You can name him Liam and say the name was derived from your father. very nice. Anyways, my DH is from Ireland and we're thinking of maybe using an Irish name. He's Martin Robert John Ryan...haha so many 'first' names!!

Hmm, you should talk to your Irish DH a little more about his homeland. 400 years of Catholic oppression is nothing to gloss over.

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