List of Famous people named William

William Gopallawa, MBE was the last Governor-General of Ceylon from 1962 to 1972 and became the first and only Non-Executive President of Sri Lanka when Ceylon declared itself a republic in 1972 and changed its name to Sri Lanka. Until 1972, Ceylon was a Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state and Queen of Ceylon. He served as Governor-General during the tenure of different governments headed by Sirimavo Bandaranaike of the SLFP and Dudley Senanayake of the UNP.

William Byrd I was an English-born Virginia colonist and politician. He came from Shadwell, London where his father John Bird was a goldsmith. His family's ancestral roots were in Cheshire.

William Charles Franklyn Plomer was a South African and British author, known as a novelist, poet and literary editor. He also wrote a series of librettos for Benjamin Britten. He wrote some of his poetry under the pseudonym Robert Pagan.

William Wallace Cargill was an American businessman. In 1865, he founded Cargill, which by 2008 was the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue, employing over 150,000 people in 68 countries.

William Blackwell Branch was an American playwright who was also involved in many aspects of entertainment, including journalism, media production, editing, a short-lived career acting for television as well as talking on the radio. He "wrote, directed, and produced extensively for the stage, television, radio, and his own media consulting and production firm".