I'd call my
William (if I had one)
Wilkie. I'd be fine with him changing that to
Will as he gets older.
I dislike
Willie, mostly because I know people who refer to a penis as a 'willy' with young kids.
I don't mind
Bill- I see the appeal but it seems dated to me still. I'm coming around to it more as I have lost two elderly uncles named (nicknamed)
Bill in the past few years and I do think it sounds strong. I see it coming back soon.
Billy is cute. I'd be open to it being used if it suited. But I'd expect it to become
Bill when he gets older. It is a pet hate of mine when men still go by childish nicknames- I don't know why and I'm sure I could delve into all sorts of ways that I have been socialized in regard to gender and I'm sure I'd agree with people's arguments that it isn't an "equal" view to have but I just don't like it. Like when men still go by Petey instead of
Pete or
Ricky instead of
Rick or
Mikey instead of
Mike. I don't know why it bothers me so much.
Billy and
Willie both also fall into that strong dislike when they are used on adult men (unless it's around family because it was their childhood nickname). There are exceptions though to that but I can't think of many- I don't mind
Paddy on any age for
Patrick? I can't think of any more than that haha.
Danny doesn't bother me as much as some others but I'd prefer an adult man go by
Dan.
Liam seems forced as nickname these days for
William. I know it is a diminutive and it can be a nickname but it has been used as a full name in
Ireland especially for so long that I view it as basically the "Irish version of
William". I like
Liam a lot. If I wanted to honor a
William so I really wanted that as a full first name, I might consider
Liam as a nickname in that case but otherwise I'd use
Liam as a standalone name.
I love the full name
William. It's handsome. But I know myself well enough that I know I would never stick to calling my own kid
William at all times. I have a tendency to shorten names and give people nicknames and I absolutely know that I'd give a hypothetical son named
William a nickname even if I desperately wanted him to be "
William" haha. And I would consider naming a son
William under the right circumstances. It's eternally popular and common but it's handsome and strong and has a long and interesting history of use and it's a family name for me over many generations.