What's in a name?

I'm a big sympathizer of the concept that people should call other people by the names they want to be called. Things like giving nicknames or shortening a person's name should only really stick if that person is okay with you calling them that. Otherwise, it comes off as tacky, inconsiderate, and at worst, ignorant. Calling a person by their given name instead of a name they prefer should be avoided, except in extremely ridiculous situations; such as the preferred name being too long to say every time, or an object not normally associated with naming people, or names intentionally meant to be silly or stupid.

Given that, my first name is William. I am the Third in my family with the name, along with my father and grandfather. With such a confusion between many people with the same name, I find it understandable that some may wish to go by other names. My father goes by Bill, and my grandfather goes by our middle name. It has been that way ever since I was little, so I have no knowledge of when these names were set for them or why. However, with them and so many other people that share our name turning to alternatives, nicknames, and shortening it, I saw a shift from people changing to avoid confusion into what appeared to be abandonment. It seemed all too commonplace that the norm was to go by something other than William.

So, in my case, I stuck with it, ironically, to avoid confusion. Few people seem to go by it in full now, and nobody has to guess if I go by a nickname or which one of the many out there to choose from since my name is there and upfront. Granted, this does cause some confusion when around other Williams who also go by William, but I have a last name too that is acceptable. But as time goes by, as I change, as names and nicknames and the people who try to use them change, I find moreso and moreso that maybe I am due for something that sets me apart better. Apart from others, apart from who I used to be, apart from perceptions about who I am and capable of, apart from what is turning into a more commonplace and normal name and idea.

When I was born, the name was the 15th most popular baby name. Just last year and the year before, it was 3rd and 2nd respectively. Rising in popularity, and the variants along with it, my name of William is becoming to mean less in uniqueness than when I was growing up. To my best efforts, I don't think I fall into the category of a William any more. I'm far too different a person than what is to be expected from "normal." I've long wanted to express this, but my options have been limited. I despise the shortenings such as Will or Willy or Billy, and changing the pronunciation to a different language, such as Spanish, either increases the syllables or makes it more difficult to say. Although there is one alternative I have pondered over, but have for one reason or another been objective towards.

The Irish name of Liam is synonymous with William. It is shorter and more pronounced. And has some limited mainstream attention given to it, such as actor Liam Neeson. However, it is significantly on the rise in popularity. Regarding William being 3rd and 2nd in recent years, Liam is 1st in popularity. It is set to, within a decade, take over the same troubles William currently has. In addition, its Irish roots are not appealing to me, even though my roots are Irish as well and I have much professional experience working in Irish culture within my field, I don't personally identify with it. My blood is Irish, but myself as a person is not. I cannot look at my family history and suddenly snap into a different mindset, personality, and culture simply because I was shown my ancestry.

So, there are my issues. I go by William because it is my name and I wish to be called it. I don't like any available alternatives for varying reasons. I don't need to go by a different name, although for many years it has been in the back of my mind. And as such happens with humans as we grow and outgrow the past, I am at a point where I would not be terribly upset if I were to shed my name and go by something different. Much like an online username changes over time and over services and communities, I find myself a different enough being compared to the past 31 years of my life that someday I too may need to reflect that in how people respond to me.

As one last bit, I do have a name I am looking into. It checks all of my boxes so far, it is short, different, unpopular, unique, similar enough to my current name, has precedent within my family, and is even a pop culture reference. But, I don't know enough about it yet to know if I wanna bother changing how so many people in my life refer to me for possibly the next 31 years.