billwill
Thursday 22nd August 2013 8:33pm
North London
6,162 posts
Quote: Jennie @ August 22 2013, 9:17 PM BST
Wow! The new avatar has unleased a tiger!
Is your name actually William Williams? Please say yes. I'd be so happy.
Yes of course it is. Odd how some people find that funny peculiar, but its actually very common.
Mind you it got me out of a speeding ticket once when a Welsh policeman demanded my name and I spoke it with a revived Welsh accent: "William Williams, Officer". "Go on, Bugger off" he said "It's the English we don't like speeding on our roads!"
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In the 1881 census approx 18% of the males in Wales were named William Williams. (I checked that out once on the 1881 census data on DVDs created by The Church of the Latter Day Saints" Mormons).
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Before the English forced the Welsh to have surnames. Names were usually "X ap Y ap Z" and a full name would go back 9 generations because property transfer on death could be to an heir descended 9 generations back.
I haven't managed to trace my family tree back 9 generations yet so so far I am only:
William ap William ap William ap Thomas ap Thomas