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ArchivesRe: Bill from William
in reply to a message by Random
Hanks & Hodges, Oxford Dictionary of First Names says:
BILL
English: altered short form of William, not used before the 19th century. The reason for the change in the initial consonant is not clear, but it conforms to the pattern regularly found when English words beginning with w- are borrowed into Gaelic; the nickname “King Billy” for William of Orange is an early example from Ireland which may have influenced English usage. Pet forms: English: Billy, Billie. Gaelic: Builidh.
DICK
English: short form of Richard (cf. Rick). The alteration of the initial consonant is supposed to result from the difficulty that English speakers in the Middle Ages had in pronouncing the trilled Norman R-.
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/Fact.aspx?&fid=10&fn=Dick&ln=Miller
BILL
English: altered short form of William, not used before the 19th century. The reason for the change in the initial consonant is not clear, but it conforms to the pattern regularly found when English words beginning with w- are borrowed into Gaelic; the nickname “King Billy” for William of Orange is an early example from Ireland which may have influenced English usage. Pet forms: English: Billy, Billie. Gaelic: Builidh.
DICK
English: short form of Richard (cf. Rick). The alteration of the initial consonant is supposed to result from the difficulty that English speakers in the Middle Ages had in pronouncing the trilled Norman R-.
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/Fact.aspx?&fid=10&fn=Dick&ln=Miller
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