Williams is a patronymic

Patronymic

A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...

 form of the name William

William

-British:*William I of England , aka William the Conqueror, William the Bastard*William II of England , aka William Rufus*William I of Scotland -British:*William I of England (1027-1087), aka William the Conqueror, William the Bastard*William II of England (1056-1100), aka William Rufus*William I...

 that originated in medieval England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and later came to be extremely popular in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. The meaning is derived from son or descendant of Guillemin, the French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 form of William. Derived from an Old French given name with Germanic

Germanic languages

The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...

 elements; will = desire, will; and helm = helmet, protection. It is the second most common surname in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 and the third most common surname in the whole of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, the third most common in the United States of America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and the fifth most common in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

Earliest usage

The earliest recorded use of the surname;

in the form of Willam is from 1279 in Oxfordshire,

in the form of William is from 1299 in Whitby, Yorkshire,

in the form of Williames is from 1307 in Staffordshire.

See also

• List of people with surname Williams
• Williams Baronets
  Williams Baronets
  There have been twenty Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Williams, eight in the Baronetage of England, three in the Baronetage of Great Britain and nine in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Only six of the creations are extant...
  
  
• Williams family of Caerhays and Burncoose
  Williams family of Caerhays and Burncoose
  The Williams family of Caerhays and Burncoose, were, for several generations, dominant in the Cornish Industrial Revolution as owners of mines and smelting works...