William Riker had a different nickname that just stopped being used

William Riker went by a different name early on, until he didn’t.

William Riker is known by many names to Star Trek fans. Number One, William, Will, Riker, Commander Riker, that guy from Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, Jonathan Frakes, and “the one with the beard”. For a spell on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Riker was called by a wholly different name; Bill.

If anyone doesn’t know, for some reason, Bill is a nickname of sorts for people named William. There’s probably a reason why but that’s not why you’re here. Riker, or “Bill” in this case, wasn’t addressed as such by many on the ship during the first season, the only season it was used. In fact, no one, but one person, ever called him Bill.

That one person was Deanna Troi. In two separate season one episode,  “The Naked Now” and “Haven”, Troi referred to Riker as Bill. Obviously, a nod that they, and not anyone else in Riker’s life, had a very different relationship with one another.

William Riker’s other name was meant to highlight a specific relationship

In the “Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion” book, Riker’s preference for ‘Bill’ wasn’t limited to just Deanna. In fact, Riker’s “female friends” were going to call him Bill. Obviously, the subtext is that Riker and said female friend would be intimate on a different level than Riker and his colleagues; hence why Deanna started calling him Bill, to begin with.

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There’s really no reason we could find why it was dropped, though that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t stayed around in the fandom.

In fact, one book tried to explain why the different nicknames started in the first place. As CBR points out, a non-canon book called “Star Trek: The Next Generation – Double Helix” tried to explain why Riker went from ‘Bill’ to ‘Will’, with them taking a passage from the book;

"Why does Counselor Troi call you ‘Bill’ when the rest of your fellow officers call you ‘Will’?” Riker then explains that “I used to go by Bill at the Academy — but then I dated a woman named Bili Beller, so we mutually decided I’d use Will."

Whether he’s Bill, Will, Riker, or something else, the man Jonathan Frakes brought to life is always a treat to watch.