What's in a Name?

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” This most familiar line from “Romeo and Juliet,” Act 2, Scene 2, raises a sticky philosophical question. Even though logically a name is merely a label, Juliet knows that names carry a whole lot of significance. At birth, our parents give us a name that follows us through life. Sometimes, parents choose a name that does not lend itself easily to nicknames. Other times, parents choose a name, intending to call the child by a nickname. How many “Daniels” become “Dans” or “Susans” become “Sues”?

My father’s given name is “Billy,” not “William,” although over the course of his life, many well-meaning people have tried to rename him as “William.” When someone tries to give him the name of “William,” he notes that his name is “Billy.” I asked him if he knew why his parents chose the more informal “Billy,” but he does not know.

Different forms of “billy” are familiar—billy goat, billy club, hillbilly. Recently, I saw the usage “city-billy” in a newspaper article, so I decided to investigate the word “billy.” The first entry in the “Oxford English Dictionary” lists three different meanings: (1) fellow, as in companion; (2) fellow in a more general sense; and (3) brother. The “OED” notes, sadly, that “billy” and its corresponding feminine form, “tittie,” are both now considered “rude.” This meaning for “billy,” while of unknown origin according to the “OED,” seems to have first appeared in the Northern British Isles around the 16^th century.

The “Chambers Slang Dictionary” sheds some light on the possible origin of the name. It defines “Billy” as “a Protestant,” deriving from King William of Orange, the Protestant king who overthrew King James II. (Many dictionaries identify “Billy” as a nickname for “William.) How and when “Billy” took on its derogatory meaning is unclear. “The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang” gives usages from the late 19^th century of “billy goat” as a “lecherous man.”

The “American Heritage Dictionary” defines “hillbilly” as “a person from the backwoods or a remote mountain area,” noting that it is “often offensive.” The “OED” defines “hillbilly” similarly, not noting its possibly offensive nature. According to the “OED,” usages of “hillbilly” first appeared around the beginning of the 20^th century.

Regardless, my father, Billy, is a most excellent fellow, and a Southern Baptist deacon, to boot. In addition, he was born in very rural Southern Mississippi. Whether his parents realized it or not, they named him very aptly, after a Protestant king familiarly known in his time as “King Billy.”