Julia made sure to name her son William Henry Beauchamp, and in Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1, episode 8, we learn where that name came from. It turns out that it is a family name.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1, episode 8.
The latest episode saw Julia and Henry finally reunite, with Henry learning that he wasn’t seeing a ghost around Castle Leoch. By finding Julia, he also learned about his son, William.
Of course, as soon as the baby was given the name William, there were plenty of theories about what this would mean for the series. At ClaireandJamie.com, we quickly ruled out the major theory that this William would be Jamie’s older brother, but I did need to know where the name came from to really cement myself in the theory that the name is a red herring.
William is a family name in Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1, episode 8
As soon as Julia tells Henry the name, we find out that it’s a family name. It was the name of Henry’s grandfather. While Julia probably has never met her husband’s grandfather before, he will have talked about him, and it was very common back in the day (and it still is for some) to use family names.
After all, the middle name Henry is for William’s own father. Julia needed to keep her husband close to her, believing that he was in the past. By using the name William, she was also able to do that, because of the direct connect to Henry’s family line.
It’s highly unlikely that this William is connected to another William in Outlander
There are a lot of Williams who pop up in the Outlander series. Not only is Jamie’s older brother named William, but there is also a William who rides with the MacKenzies in the first season. Then we have Jamie’s son, who is named William, and not because Jamie asked of it.
I know there is a fun theory that Julia’s William will turn out to be Brian and Ellen’s William. I love the theories, and I don’t want them to stop, but I just want to be realistic for a moment. The idea of the two Williams being one and the same doesn’t match up. There is no way that Ellen and Brian would be able to pass off a baby born in 1715 as a newborn in 1716.
With us finding out that William has a family connection to the Beauchamps, it makes a lot more sense. But I do wonder if Brian and Ellen will honor Julia and her help with the naming of their firstborn son.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs Fridays on STARZ.
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