List of Famous people named William

William Anthony Perry is a former American football defensive lineman who played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Chicago Bears. Nicknamed "The Refrigerator" for his imposing size, he played college football at Clemson University and was selected by the Bears in the first round of the 1985 NFL Draft. Perry gained popularity during his rookie season as a member of the Bears team that won the franchise's first Super Bowl in Super Bowl XX. During the season, Perry occasionally played fullback in goal line situations and set the then-record for the heaviest player to score a touchdown at 335 lb (152 kg). He remains the heaviest player to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl and has the largest Super Bowl ring at size 25.

William Morris was a British textile designer, poet, novelist, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he helped win acceptance of socialism in fin de siècle Great Britain.

William Smith is an American actor. In a Hollywood career spanning more than 75 years, he has appeared in almost three hundred feature films and television productions in a wide variety of character roles, with his best known role being the menacing Anthony Falconetti in the 1970s television mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man. Smith is also known for films like Any Which Way You Can (1980), Conan The Barbarian (1982), Rumble Fish (1983), and Red Dawn (1984), as well as lead roles in several exploitation films during the 1970s.

William Wilberforce was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming an independent Member of Parliament (MP) for Yorkshire (1784–1812). In 1785, he became an evangelical Christian, which resulted in major changes to his lifestyle and a lifelong concern for reform.

William Lacy Clay Jr. is an American politician who served as the U.S. Representative from Missouri's 1st congressional district from 2001 to 2021. His congressional career ended after he lost in a Democratic primary to Cori Bush in 2020.

Vice-Admiral William Bligh was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The Mutiny on the Bounty occurred during his command of HMS Bounty in 1789; after being set adrift in Bounty's launch by the mutineers, Bligh and his loyal men all reached Timor alive, after a journey of 3,618 nautical miles.

William T. Anderson, known by the nickname "Bloody Bill" Anderson, was one of the deadliest and most notorious Confederate guerrilla leaders in the American Civil War. Anderson led a band of volunteer partisan raiders who targeted Union loyalists and federal soldiers in the states of Missouri and Kansas.

William Bonemer Júnior, known professionally as William Bonner, is a Brazilian newscaster, publicist and journalist. He is the current editor-in-chief and anchorman of Jornal Nacional, the most-watched Brazilian news program, aired by Rede Globo.

Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Rankin was, besides Ewa Wiśnierska, the only known person to survive a fall from the top of a cumulonimbus thunderstorm cloud. He was a pilot in the United States Marine Corps and a World War II and Korean War veteran. He was flying an F-8 Crusader jet fighter over a cumulonimbus cloud when the engine failed, forcing him to eject and parachute into the cloud. Lieutenant Colonel Rankin wrote a book about his experience, The Man Who Rode the Thunder.

William Patrick Stuart-Houston was the half-nephew of Adolf Hitler. He was born to Adolf Hitler's half-brother Alois Hitler Jr. and his Irish wife Bridget Dowling in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. William relocated to Germany, but immigrated to the United States, where he served in the United States Navy in World War II. He eventually received American citizenship.