List of Famous people named William

William John "Bill" Crawford was a United States Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during World War II. The Medal of Honor award was believed to be posthumous, even though he was a prisoner of war at the time. He was also a career U.S. Army enlisted soldier, reaching the rank of master sergeant. After retirement from the military, he became a janitor at the United States Air Force Academy, where he received the Medal of Honor award from President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

William Harry McRaven is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command from August 8, 2011 to August 28, 2014. From 2015 to 2018, he was the chancellor of The University of Texas System.

William Ryan Owens was a decorated United States Navy SEAL senior chief petty officer. He died in the Yakla raid in Yemen, making him the first American to die in combat under the Trump administration.

William Horatio Powell was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the Thin Man series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Life with Father (1947).

William Still was an African-American abolitionist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, businessman, writer, historian and civil rights activist. Before the American Civil War, Still was chairman of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. He directly aided fugitive slaves and also kept records of the people served in order to help families reunite.

William Phelps Eno was an American businessman responsible for many of the earliest innovations in road safety and traffic control. He is sometimes known as the "Father of traffic safety", despite never having learned to drive a car himself.

William III, also widely known as William of Orange, was sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the 1670s and King of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 until his death. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II. He is sometimes informally known as "King Billy" in Ireland and Scotland. His victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is commemorated by unionists, who display orange colours in his honour. Popular histories usually refer to his joint reign with his wife, Queen Mary II, as that of William and Mary.

William Edward Fichtner is an American actor. Fichtner has appeared in a number of films, TV series and video games. He is known for his television roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on Invasion, Alexander Mahone on Prison Break, and Adam Janikowski on Mom. His film appearances include Heat, Contact, Armageddon, The Perfect Storm, Go, Drowning Mona, Crash, Blades of Glory, Black Hawk Down, The Longest Yard, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Dark Knight, Date Night, The Lone Ranger, Elysium, Independence Day: Resurgence, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

William Kennedy Smith is an American physician and a member of the Kennedy family who founded an organization focused on land mines and the rehabilitation of landmine victims. He is known for being charged with rape in a nationally-publicized 1991 trial that ended with his acquittal.

William Christopher Barrett (1913–1992) was a professor of philosophy at New York University from 1950 to 1979.