• Major Charles Quincy Williams (1933-1982), United States Army officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War
• Tennessee Williams (1911-1983), well-known American playwright and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, 1948 and 1955
• Archie Williams (1915-1993), American engineer and Olympic gold medallist (1936)
• Hiram King Williams (1923-1952), better known as Hank Williams Sr., popular country music singer and songwriter
• Robin Williams (b. 1951), Award-winning American entertainer, actor, and comedian
• Richard "Dick" Norris Williams II (1891-1968), famed American tennis player and a survivor of the RMS Titanic disaster in April 1912
• Myrna Williams (1905-1993), original name of American actress Myrna Loy
• William Williams (1731-1811), delegate for Connecticut to the Continental Congress in 1776, and a signatory of the Declaration of Independence
• Jody Williams (b. 1950), American teacher and aid worker awarded the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize
• Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981), American jazz pianist
• John Towner Williams (1932-1839), American composer, conductor, and pianist, five-time winner of the Academy Award, four Golden Globe Awards, seven BAFTA Awards and 21 Grammy Awards
• Robley Cook Williams (1908-1995), American biophysicist and virologist and served as the first President of the Biophysical Society
• Chief Warrant Officer 4 Hershel Woodrow Williams (b. 1923), United States Marine who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1945
• Jesse Lynch Williams (1871-1929), American Pulitzer Prize-winning (1918 for Drama) author and dramatist
• Charles Kenneth Williams (b. 1936), American poet awarded the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
• William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), American poet awarded the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
• George Emlyn Williams CBE (1905-1987), Welsh dramatist and actor appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1962
• Christopher David Williams (1873-1934), Welsh artist and a member of the Arts Committee of the National Museum of Wales and of the Council of Honorable Society of Cymmrodorion
• Isaac Williams (1802-1865), Welsh clergyman and tractarian
• John Peter Rhys "J.P.R." Williams FRCS, MBE (b. 1949), Welsh Rugby Union player and orthopaedic surgeon inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 1997 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1980
• Raymond Henry Williams (1921-1988), Welsh academic, novelist and critic
• Waldo Williams (1904-1971), one of the leading Welsh language poets of the twentieth century
• Sergeant John "Jack" Henry Williams VC, DCM, MM and Bar (1886-1953), Welsh recipient of the Victoria Cross and is the most decorated Welsh non-commissioned officer of all time
• Major General John Channing Williams DSO, British Officer awarded the DSO for gallantry at the Normandy landings
• Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams FBA (1929-2003), English moral philosopher, described by The Times as the "most brilliant and most important British moral philosopher of his time"
• Sir George Williams (1821-1905), English social reformer and founder of the YMCA
• John Christopher Williams (b. 1941), Australian classical and jazz guitarist
• Ralph Vaughan Williams OM (1872-1958), English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores
• Sir Francis "Frank" Owen Garbatt Williams CBE (b. 1942), English founder and manager of the WilliamsF1 Formula One racing team and one of the few non-Frenchmen to have been made a Chevalier of France's Legion d'honneur
• Frederick Ronald Williams (1927-1982), Australian landscape painter
• Sir Frederic Calland Williams (1911-1977), English electrical engineer closely involved with the development of radar and early digital computers
• Harold Williams (1893-1976), Australian baritone
• Kenneth Charles Williams (1926-1988), British comic actor, star of 26 Carry On films
• Sir Monier Williams (1819-1899), English Sanskrit scholar
• Baroness Shirley Vivien Teresa Brittain Williams PC (b. 1930), English politician and Professor Emerita of Electoral Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
• Lieutenant-General Sir William Fenwick Williams GCB (1800-1883), British military leader of the Victorian era

Tell Me More About Coat of Arms

• View Armorial History with Coat of Arms Guided Tour
• Bibliography - References used for our surname histories
• View sample history for: Donovan, Gauthier, Kowalski, MacGregor, Perelli, Schmidt
• Coats of Arms: History
• Coats of Arms: the Heraldic Artist
• Coats of Arms: Timeline
• Coats of Arms: Elements
• Family Crests and Genealogy: how they relate

Learn More About Welsh Surnames

WALES: A BRIEF HISTORY

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WELSH SURNAMES

Most Welsh surnames are patronymic; that is, they are derived from a personal name of an ancestor. In the Middle Ages, the prefixes ap and ab were commonly found in Welsh surnames. Welsh names used to include strings of Patronymics going back through the generations, until the 16th century when people began to use fixed hereditary surnames. Evidence of these prefixes can still be found in many Welsh surnames, such as Prince, Probert, Bowen, and Beddoes.

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THE BLACK KNIGHT

The Black Prince, or Edward, Prince of Wales, (1330-76), is thought to have gained his nickname due to the colour of his armour -- jet black. However, this claim cannot be verified. Contrary to popular conceptions, period illustrations typically depict him in silver or gilt armour, not black. He may have gained this monicker because he wore a black surcoat with a silver plume. Yet a more fantastic notion also circulates. Many hold the opinion that he was labelled black because of his skill as a knight or because he was often merciless towards the vanquished. His sacking of the town of Limoges in 1370 gives some credence to the latter notion. After taking the town, all its inhabitants were slaughtered, with no consideration to age or gender.

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THE KING ARTHUR LEGEND

Writers and historians have long been divided on the truth of the many different tellings of the stories of Arthur, the great Welsh king of Britain. Although many now think that there is some truth underlying the widely varying accounts, the hard facts surrounding Arthur's reign are almost completely obscured in a mist of myths and legends. Like all legends, these tales evolved over many centuries. Their telling and retelling over those years, while it may have left them somewhat lacking in truth, has emphasized and expanded their most compelling parts, making the Arthurian saga as glorious and prolific a body of stories as any, in fact or fiction.

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WALES: A BACKGROUND

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