Murphy101 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Trying to name this seventh son of ours. I do not want to use a name of any other family members. Such as William. Dh likes the name Liam, which is short for WilLIAM. To me that is too close to a family name to use. Dh says I'm being difficult. (Which is pot calling to the kettle, imnsho, but that is another matter!) What say the hive? If you didn't want to use William, would you associate Liam with it? ETA: This would be a first name, if that makes a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catalinakel Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I would not choose Liam if there is already a William. Liam obviously comes from William. How about Colin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mynyel Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Not me, I will always think of Liam Nielsson and remember his voice as Aslan in Narnia! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarcyB Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Nope - because I've never even thought of it as a shortened version of William. It was actually the first choice for our 2nd son, but then one day, we switched it as he felt different to us that day (don't ask us to explain), but if we had a 3rd son, his name would probably be Liam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Not to be partisan ;) but I don't connect the two names at all. I rather like Liam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 So you already have a child named William or is William a different family member? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share Posted February 5, 2011 So you already have a child named William or is William a different family member? One of our parents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I don't think it is too close. I would personally never associate the name Liam with the name William. I think of them as two totally separate names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Not to be partisan ;) but I don't connect the two names at all. I rather like Liam. :iagree: So you already have a child named William or is William a different family member? However, I would not chose William if you already have a child with that name, it that instance it would be too close. I would not chose a name that could be misconstrued as a nick name for another child, or a family member I was not fond of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLG Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I don't think it is too close. I would personally never associate the name Liam with the name William. I think of them as two totally separate names. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenDaisies Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I would never have thought of Liam being a shortened version of William. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I had no idea that Liam was a shortened form of William. I thought it was an entirely different name. I would never make that association. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycalling Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I never associated the two. We had a family with a son named Liam live with us for 8mo. The middle name of my closest-in-age son is William. I never even considered they had similar names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 If you have a William who is a son of yours... too close. Otherwise, go for it!! I LOOOOOVVVVVVE that name!! I offered it for our son... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I've known enough Liams who weren't short for William that I think it's a perfectly fine name and wouldn't necessarily associate it with William, though it also makes a fine short form of William. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest momk2000 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I love the name Liam. If you like it, I would go ahead and use it. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share Posted February 5, 2011 :001_huh: Just me and two others so far? Really? How can you not associate them? Dh says no one associates Bert with Robert, yet they do associate Bob with it. Go figure. I will never understand people.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Do you like... absolutely NOT like the William in your family?? If not.... is it a bad thing to be close, but yet different?? I have an Uncle Bill who m*lested my cousin... actually...he r*ped her on a continual basis.... and would never be prosecuted... so I would never name my child "Bill"... but Liam... just isn't the same... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaichiki Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I think Liam is actually the Irish form of the name William, right? If I already had a William, I wouldn't go for Liam. If I had a relative I really didn't like named William, I wouldn't go for Liam. If I was just trying to avoid repetition, I'd consider Liam. It sounds "just different enough." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 It's not too close for my taste; in fact, I have never associated the two names with one another. I adore the name Liam. It reminds me of Liam Neeson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoonlight Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I would never have thought of Liam being a shortened version of William. Neither have I. My oldest dd wants to name her first son Liam - she adores that name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share Posted February 5, 2011 I think Liam is actually the Irish form of the name William, right? Yes. So say every source we have found so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katemary63 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Nope - because I've never even thought of it as a shortened version of William. :iagree: When I first read the OP, I thought, "Huh?" I had no inkling that Liam was "from" William. None. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Liam is the Celtic form of William, so it's the same name. Because we were looking for the Celtic form of William, we chose that name for our younger son. If you already have a William in the house (or family), then you will have two of them if you choose that name. And by the way, everyone thinks they are hearing the tail end of "William" when you say "Liam", and most start out using William until you've corrected them a few times.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristineW Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 If it would bother you for William to think that Liam was named after him then don't do it. If someone else's feelings might get hurt <named after one grandfather but not the other> then don't. But if you are just avoiding using the same name then its different enough that it will be clear who is who. But someone will draw the association. Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Since Liam is pronounced so differently, I would not associate with William even though it may be derived from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I am another who never made the connection. When I say William, I say 'Wil yem' (or yum-I can't decide LOL). Liam is 'Lee em' To me, they don't even sound similar. I have never (knowingly at least) mistaken a Liam for a William. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Almost like having an Ian and Sean or Ian and John... (same name, right?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I have never associated William with Liam. It is a lovely name. But I think that moms should always get veto power on any name because we have to carry 'em and push 'em out.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 And by the way, everyone thinks they are hearing the tail end of "William" when you say "Liam", and most start out using William until you've corrected them a few times.... I wonder if that is regional. Around here, William is pronounced Will-yum. Lee-um sounds totally different to me. I've sent a query to friends who have a child named Liam to ask if anyone around here ever thinks they are hearing the last part of William. (When this couple named their child Liam, I had never heard the name before and just thought it was a trendy Irish name.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Never once thought of William when I heard the name Liam. I love the name Liam! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teamturner Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Not to be partisan ;) but I don't connect the two names at all. I rather like Liam. I never did either. I have a William and have always liked the name Liam. If the William in your family is not in your immediate family, then I don't think it matters. We call our William "Will" which in my opinion is how your shorten William. Or "Bill." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I don't associate Bert with Robert or Liam with William. The only associations I get with Bert are from Bert&Ernie and Burt Reynolds. The only association I get for Liam is Liam Neelson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silliness7 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 It depends on how close the family relationship. If a brother or father is William, maybe even grandfather then I think Liam would be too close of a link. An uncle or deceased relative would be fine for me. But I am biased with a long line of Williams in the family and a William of my own. Ggma's family had 13 kids. An older one was William and a younger one was Billy Ray. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orangearrow Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 If the William is one of your parents (I think this was said earlier), I'd have to think long and hard on it. There is a chance that the non-William parents will feel you've named a child after the William-parents and their feathers might get a little ruffled. And the William-parents might take it as an incredible, and yet unintended, sign of respect/adoration/affection. Now, all this might be okay with you guys, so.... that might be a moot point. Just a thing to consider. So. With that said, love the name Liam, and I am one who definitely associates the name with William (both for the Celtic/American same-name thing and for the possibility of Liam being a nickname/shortened version of William). Also - we named one of our daughters a "version" of my mother's name. We meant it as a compliment. She never saw it that way, because we changed one of the letters in dd's name. My cousin named her daughter another "version" of the name (NOT meaning it as a compliment, necessarily... she just liked the name), but kept the "y," and my mom is still telling people about her great-niece who has nearly the same name as her. :001_huh: So, maybe the william-parents won't notice the similarity at all! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycalling Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Almost like having an Ian and Sean or Ian and John... (same name, right?):iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I'm with you, Martha. IMO, Liam is the same name as William. It *is* the Irish version of William. If you already have a William, and you name this boy Liam, you might as well name the next boy Guillaume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fhjmom Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I have an "Ella" named after a great-grandmother "Novella" who, if a boy, I wanted to name "Xander" after a great-grandfather "Alexander", so I see the connection. If you don't want there to ever be the possibility of the association, I can understand not wanting to use that name. On the other hand, I love the name Liam! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Not to be partisan ;) but I don't connect the two names at all. I rather like Liam. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidiyaDawn Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I just found out the other day (from a friend) that Liam was a version of William - had no idea before that. I also had no idea that "Bert" was short for "Robert" until now... I thought it was just a freestanding name of its own... and wait, someone said that Ian and Sean are the same? :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda in VT Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I have a Liam. I know it's a form of William, but I don't think William when I hear Liam like I do when I hear Bill or Will. The only person who has asked us if Liam was short for William was the mother of a classmate named Will. Most people who mishear my son's name hear it as Ian. It's like Isabel. I know it's a form of Elizabeth, but I hearing Isabel doesn't remind me of Elizabeth the way hearing Beth or Liz does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Martha, Martha, Martha....You didn't give an " other" choice.:D I would never have associated Liam with William and started to vote to use it. BUT, BUT, BUT Will your family associate them and leave other members irritated that you didn't use their name? Stupid, but it would be an issue with my family. My sister named one son after both grandads by using derivatives of each first name for her son's first and middle. Something similar to Liam for William. But, she made it known that's what she was doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I don't think it is too close. I would personally never associate the name Liam with the name William. I think of them as two totally separate names. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I had no idea that Liam was a shortened form of William. I thought it was an entirely different name. I would never make that association. It never occurred to me either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Nope. I've never associated the name "Liam" with "William." (They sound totally different to me, look totally different to me, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 How can you not associate them? Because the name William is pronounced "WILL-yum," not "wil-LIAM," so they don't sound the same. I have never thought of the name Liam and the name William as similar. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Regardless of the historical connection, most of today's Liam's are not a shortened version of William. Most people in the U.S. (sorry I forgot to look if you're in the U.S.) don't connect the names. And in most regions, the two are pronounced differently. All of the Liam's I know are LEE-um. My husband is Bill, and he doesn't say his name is Will-LEE-um. It's WILL-yum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 :001_huh: Just me and two others so far? Really? How can you not associate them? Dh says no one associates Bert with Robert, yet they do associate Bob with it. Go figure. I will never understand people.:tongue_smilie: I had no idea that Liam was short for William and I probably wouldn't associate Bert with Robert either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Nope-I don't automatically associate the two. I don't think of Liam as a nickname for William but rather a name on its own. But if it will drive you nuts and you couldn't stand to call the boy Liam due to your association of the two-that is enough to say no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I think they are too close. But I'm coming from a family with Williams on every branch of our family tree. We've run the gamut of nicknames. Liam is the latest and although he is a very cute 4 year old, everyone knows his name is a nickname from William. It's just too obvious in our family for it not to be. So IMO, your family will all know that Liam is a derivation for William regardless if his first name has the 'Wil" on the front of "Liam" or not. And yes, my ds14's middle name is William. I couldn't go against family tradition. But, it's his middle name, not his first! I just couldn't do the first name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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