Guillaume

Etymology

Guillaume comes from the French personal name Guillaume, the standard French form of William. That given name ultimately goes back to Germanic elements meaning “will, desire” and “helmet, protection,” so the underlying sense is often given as “resolute protector.” As a surname, it usually began as an identifying name meaning “son or family of Guillaume.”

History

English and American surname writers often treated Guillaume as the French counterpart of William and used it to explain anglicized forms that shifted between W and G sounds. In Normandy and other French-speaking areas, it was a straightforward hereditary surname derived from the popular medieval given name. In modern usage it remains much more common as a personal name in French than as a surname, though the surname is well established.

Origin

Regions

Variant spellings

Fun fact

Early surname dictionaries frequently used Guillaume as a key example of how Norman French names could turn into English surnames with very different spellings and initials.

Related surnames