Why is William generally called as Bill?

Answer 1

I've always had the same question too. It does seem rather strange doesn't it? Now I don't know if this correct but I thought I'd share something I'd discovered as an American in Moscow, Russia.Sometimes my lower intermediate level Russian students have spelling mix-ups when spelling English words on paper. In the Russian and English alphabet there are many letters that resemble one another but take on completely different sounds.I found that when you spell "William" shortened to "Will" in Russian) since it's not a name that rolls of the tongue so easily in the Russian language) Using the Russian alphabet, the "W" is replaced by a "B". In the Russian alphabet and the Russian "B" is closest to the English "W" sound.So maybe there was a spelling mix-up that led to the nickname for Will or William to become what we pronounce as "Bill" this way. After all it is a common name in English speaking part of Europe and they are neighboring countries.