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$Title{Names for Boys:  W}
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Editors of Consumer Guide
Harder, Kelsey}
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The Ultimate Baby Name Book


Names for Boys:  W


Wade               Old English waden, "to wade."
     Famous name:  Wade Boggs (baseball player)

Walache (see Wallace)

Waldo (see Oswald)

Walker             Old English wealcere, "a fuller."  A walker cleans and
                   thickens cloth by gathering and pleating it.  The
                   profession is now obsolete, but the given name is still
                   used occasionally.
    Famous names:  Walker Evans (photographer)
                   Walker Percy (writer)

Wallace            Old English wealas, "stranger" or literally "Welsh."
                   William Wallace is a thirteenth-century national hero of
                   Scotland.  Along with Robert Bruce, he is a central
                   character of a nineteenth-century romantic novel by Jane
                   Porter entitled The Scottish Chiefs.
    Famous names:  Wallace Berry (actor)
                   Wallace Stegner (author)
  Other spelling:  Wallis
       Nicknames:  Wallie, Wally
      Variations:  Vlach (Slavic), Walache (German), Wallache (German),
                   Walsh, Welch, Welsh

Wallache (see Wallace)

Wallie, Wally      Form of Oswald, Wallace, or Walter.  In the television
                   series Our Miss Brooks, actor Wally Cox played Mr. Peepers,
                   the science teacher.
     Famous name:  Wally Schirra (astronaut)

Wallis (see Wallace)

Walsh (see Wallace)

Walt               Form of Walter.
    Famous names:  Walt Disney (cartoonist)
                   Walt Whitman (poet)

Walter             Old German Waldhar, "democracy," from vald [rule] + harja
                   [people].  This name dates back to the Domesday Book in
                   England.  By the sixteenth century, it had become well
                   known through the exploits of Sir Walter Raleigh, who
                   established one of the first English settlements in North
                   America.  From 1850 to 1950, Walter was one of the
                   most-popular names for boys in the United States, but it
                   disappeared suddenly from popular-name lists, and now it
                   seems dated.  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, James
                   Thurber's short story, which was made into a movie, is
                   about the frustrations of day-to-day life.  The close
                   association of the name Walter with the simple little man
                   who is the hero of the story may explain why Walter is no
                   longer a popular name.
    Famous names:  Walter Cronkite (TV newscaster)
                   Walter Lippman (journalist)
                   Walter Payton (football player)
                   Walter Reed (pathologist)
                   Walter Reuther (labor organizer)
        Nickname:  Wallie, Wally, Walt, Wat
      Variations:  Balto, Bhaltair (Scottish), Gauthier (French), Gautier
                   (French), Gualterio (Spanish), Gualtiero (Italian),
                   Guittiere (Spanish), Ualtar (Irish), Walters, Walther
                   (German), Waterio, Watkin, Watson

Walters (see Walter)

Walther (see Walter)

Ward               Old English weard, "guard"; also a form of Howard.
     Famous name:  Ward Bond (actor)
      Variations:  Warden, Warder

Warden (see Ward)

Warder (see Ward)

Wariner (see Warner)

Warner             Old German Warinhari from Varin [a folk name of uncertain
                   origin] + harja [folk].  This name is more common as a
                   surname, but mystery fans remember actor Warner Oland and
                   the movies in which he played the famed Chinese sleuth
                   Charlie Chan.
    Famous names:  Warner Robins (WWI flier)
                   Werner von Braun (scientist)
      Variations:  Garner, Wariner, Werner (German)

Warren             Old German Varin, a folk name; also, Middle English
                   warenne, "game park."  This very old name dates to the
                   Domesday Book in England, although it has never been
                   extremely popular.
    Famous names:  Warren Burger (U.S. Supreme Court chief justice)
                   Warren G. Harding (29th U.S. president)

Warrick (see Varrick)

Wat (see Walter)

Waterio (see Walter)

Watkin (see Walter)

Watson (see Walter)

Wayland            Old English "land of the pathway" from weg [road] + "land."
     Famous name:  Wayland Jennings (singer)
      Variations:  Waylen, Waylon, Wieland (German)

Waylen (see Wayland)

Waylon (see Wayland)

Wayne              Old English waun, "meadow"; also, a form of Duane.  While
                   this name is not unusual in the United States, it's never
                   achieved the popularity here that it has in England, where
                   it's one of the top-50 names for boys.
    Famous names:  Wayne Gretzky (hockey player)
                   Wayne Rogers (actor)

Webb               Old English webbe, "a weaver."  This is an occupational
                   name that is used occasionally as a first name.
       Variation:  Webbe, Webster

Webbe (see Webb)

Webster (see Webb)

Weed (see Reed)

Welch (see Wallace)

Welsh (see Wallace)

Wende (see Wendell)

Wendell            Origin uncertain; possibly Old English "winding valley"
                   from wendan [to wind] + dell [valley].
    Famous names:  Oliver Wendell Holmes (U.S. Supreme Court chief justice)
                   Wendell Phillips (abolitionist)
       Variation:  Wende (German)

Werner (see Warner)

Wes (see Wesley, Weston)

Wesley             Old English "west meadow."  Parents honor John Wesley, the
                   founder of Methodism, when they give their babies this
                   surname as a first name.
     Famous name:  Wesley Mitchell (economist)
       Nicknames:  Lee, Leigh, Wes
      Variations:  Westleigh, Westley

Westleigh, Westley (see Wesley)

Weston             Old English "west town."  This very old surname can be
                   used as a first name.
     Famous name:  Weston Dickson Fisler (baseball player)
        Nickname:  Wes

Wieland (see Wayland)

Wilder             Old English wealdhere from weald [strong] + here [army].

Wiley (see William)

Wilfred            Old English "will or wish for peace" from wil [will] +
                   frith [peace].  This name is unusual in the United States,
                   but it's more popular in England.  Wilfred is the name of
                   the hero of two of Sir Walter Scott's novels, Ivanhoe and
                   Rokeby.
    Famous names:  Wilfred Hyde-White (actor)
                   Wilfred Leach (stage and film director)
      Variations:  Wilfrid, Wilfried

Wilfrid, Wilfried (see Wilfred)

Wilhelm (see William)

Wilkes (see William)

Will               Form of Willard or William.  Referring to himself,
                   Shakespeare wrote: "Make but my name thy love, and love
                   that still/ And then thou lovest me, for my name is Will."
     Famous name:  Will Rogers (humorist)

Willard            Old German "strong-willed."
     Famous name:  Willard Scott (TV personality)
       Nicknames:  Will, Willie, Willy

Willem (see William)

Willet (see William)

Willi, Willie,     Form of Willard and William.
Willy
    Famous names:  Willi Smith (fashion designer)
                   Willie Mays (baseball player)
                   Willie Nelson (singer)
                   Willie Shoemaker (jockey)

William            Old German Wilahelm, "firm protector," from vilja [will] +
                   helma [helmet].  William has long been a popular name.  In
                   both England and the United States, only the name John is
                   chosen more often than William.  The name came to England
                   with William the Conqueror, who led the Norman Invasion of
                   Great Britain.  The German name Wilhelm changed quickly to
                   the English William.  In the eleventh century, William II,
                   known as Rufus, came to the throne after his father.  He
                   was succeeded by his brother, Henry I.  For centuries, no
                   other first-born Williams outlived their fathers, so
                   despite a proliferation of Prince Williams, there was no
                   other King William until William of Orange and his wife,
                   Mary, were encouraged to depose James II.  William IV
                   briefly reigned after the death of his brother George IV,
                   but was succeeded by his niece Queen Victoria.  In the late
                   nineteenth century during the reign of William I, King of
                   Prussia, the German statesman Otto von Bismarck organized
                   the unification of Germany.  William II of Germany
                   encouraged the fervent nationalism that led to World War I
                   and his deposition in 1918.  There are also many famous
                   literary Williams, including the great dramatist William
                   Shakespeare, poets William Wordsworth, William Blake, and
                   William Butler Yeats, and American novelist William
                   Faulkner.  William Henry Harrison was the ninth president
                   of the United States; William McKinley, the twentieth; and
                   William Howard Taft, the twenty-seventh.
    Famous names:  William Harvey (anatomist)
                   William Holden (actor)
                   William Hurt (actor)
                   William Penn (founder of Pennsylvania)
                   William Tell (Swiss hero)
       Nicknames:  Bill, Billie, Billy, Wiley, Will, Willie, Willy, Wylie
      Variations:  Giermo, Gugielmo (Italian), Guglielmo (Italian), Guillaume
                   (French), Guillermo (Spanish), Guillo, Guirmo, Gullermo,
                   Gurmo, Hiermo, Inermo, Quillermo, Uilleam (Scottish),
                   Uilliam (Irish), Vihelm (Swedish), Vilhelm (Swedish),
                   Wilhelm (German), Wilkes, Willem (Dutch), Willet,
                   Williamson, Willis, Wilmot, Wilson, Wim (Dutch), Wullie

Williamson (see William)

Willis (see William)

Wilmot (see William)

Wilson (see William)

Wim (see William)

Win (see Winn, Winston, Winthrop)

Winn               Old English "friend"; also, a form of Winston.
  Other spelling:  Win
       Nicknames:  Winnie, Winny

Winnie, Winny (see Winn, Winston)

Winston            Old English "Wine's town" or "old friend's town."  The
                   Churchill family made this name famous long before World
                   War II brought the British prime minister to the attention
                   of the world.  In the seventeenth century, Sir Winston
                   Churchill was the father of the first Duke of Marlborough.
       Nicknames:  Win, Winn, Winnie, Winny
       Variation:  Winton

Winthrop           Old English place name Wina's thorp or Wigmund's thorp, a
                   place name, from thorp, "farm or village."  This well-known
                   New England surname conveys the idea of old wealth and
                   colonial ancestors.
     Famous name:  Winthrop Ames (producer)
        Nickname:  Win

Winton (see Winston)

Witold (see Vito)

Wojciech (see George)

Wood (see Elwood, Haywood)

Woodie (see Haywood, Woody)

Woodrow            Old English "a row of woods" or "a row of cottages along a
                   wood" from wodu [wood] + raw [row].  Woodrow Wilson was the
                   twenty-eighth president of the United States and the
                   inspiration for the League of Nations, which was the model
                   for the United Nations.
       Nicknames:  Woodie, Woody

Woody              Form of Elwood, Forrest, or Woodrow.  There may not be a
                   lot of Woodrows around, but this name has become well
                   known through longtime Ohio State football coach Woody
                   Hayes, musicians Woody Guthrie and Woody Herman, and
                   American movie director and former stand-up comic Woody
                   Allen.
  Other spelling:  Woodie

Wullie (see William)

Wylie (see William)