Proper noun

"What the deuce is their fancy for calling the young beggar Brian'?" he inquired."Is it ' Brian Boroimhe they have gone back to, or is it some of her people, or what?"

"There was a good Drewitt once," answered Wilhelmina, "- - - and his name was Brian'. - - - And Nannie told her, too, how a child always strains after the person it is called after, and how luck follows names, and worked her up to such a pit finally, that nothing would do her but the young gentleman must be called '''Brian''' and accordingly '''Brian''' he is - ' Brian Archibald. It is not an easy name to make fun out of; so all I can do is to call him Brin Baldy.

Why oh why had his parents even considered Brian'? '''Brian''' is someone who works in a hardware shop or fixes the U bend. What chance did Sir Lovesdaslutalot have in life with a name like '''Brian'''? You can't even shorten ' Brian to Bri without it sounding like a kind of cheese!

Proper noun

This name hath been most common in England since King William' the Conquerour,insomuch that upon a festival day in the Court of King Henry the Second, when Sir '''William''' Saint-John, and Sir '''William''' Fitz-Hamon, especial Officers, had commanded that none but of the name of '''William''' should dine in the great Chamber with them, they were accompanied with a hundred and twenty ' Williams .

By the same token I should probably have called myself 'Bill'. With a name like William' you have choices. Very handy for us chameleons. '' William' is stern and dignified. A little austere and unapproachable. He conquers things. It is what my mother calls me when she is angry with me.