Will or Bill

Why is William sometimes "Will" and sometimes "Bill"?

Why is Elizabeth sometimes Beth and sometimes Liz?

<<Why is Elizabeth sometimes Beth and sometimes Liz? >>

Actually, I've wondered about Will vs. Bill myself.

Elizabeth is different.
Liz is short for [E-]-liz-[-abeth]
Beth comes from [Eliza-]-beth
--easily traced

how we get Bill from Will I can only guess.
Perhaps from intermediate or germanic Will (pronounced 'Vill')??? [Will > Vill > Bill] ???

It must be v transformed to b (I have learned about that in school, vaguely recall it now), but I was wondering about why, when and where.
Why is William Clinton "Bill", while William Shakespeare is "Will"?

Bill v. Will is personal choice of the parents, what they want to calll their child... But the transformation of W->B from William to Bill is (probably) due to an earlier Irish pronunciation of the name (think Irish 'bh').

Source: behindthename.com

<<Bill v. Will is personal choice of the parents, what they want to calll their child... But the transformation of W->B from William to Bill is (probably) due to an earlier Irish pronunciation of the name (think Irish 'bh').

Source: behindthename.com >>

ahhhh
Thank you!

I was under impression that Bill is sort of a Southern version of the name?

<<I was under impression that Bill is sort of a Southern version of the name? >>

No, there is no special version that the South has for this or really any other name.
But Bill is less formal sounding, more familiar. Wanting people to call you 'Bill' is very friendly, chummy.

Will is not as buddy-buddy as Bill, almost as 'official' sounding as William

<<No, there is no special version that the South has for this or really any other name.
>>

unless you count derivatives such as Billy-Bob, Billy-Jo, etc
: )

Rhyming nicknames became popular in 12th and 13th century England simply because it was a cute thing to do.

Will - Bill, Rob - Bob, Rick - Dick, Meg - Peg, Molly - Polly, etc.

But when I google Bill; I get Bill Gates, Bill Murray, Kill Bill, William J. Clinton and dozens of other Americans. No British Bill on first two pages. Why is that?

When the creditors call, you refer to your son as "Bill", so you can honestly say "I've been taking care of the Bill."

When PBS, asks about William's artwork, you call him "Will" especially if the film will be shown to British audiences.

(not intended to be a final word on the matter.)

<<But when I google Bill; I get Bill Gates, Bill Murray, Kill Bill, William J. Clinton and dozens of other Americans. No British Bill on first two pages. Why is that? >>

Greatest Number of hits happens to be Americans.
Coincidence.

Here is something interesting I found

http://www.takeourword.com/TOW196/page1.html

I don't agree with everything (like Harry and Hal from Henry. I believe Harry/Hal are from Harold), but it makes a nice short read.

Okay, I know it's not a coincidence.
Still; how popular is "Bill" in UK?