William Brown may refer to:

Academics

• William Brown (industrial relations expert) (1945–2019), British academic, Master of Darwin College, Cambridge
• William Brown (plant pathologist) (1888–1975), British mycologist and plant pathologist
• William Brown (psychologist) (1881–1952), British psychologist
• William Fuller Brown Jr. (1904–1983), American physicist
• W. G. Brown, Canadian mathematician
• William Harvey Brown (1862–1913), American naturalist
• William Jethro Brown (1868–1930), Australian jurist and professor of law
• William L. Brown (geneticist) (1913–1991), American geneticist
• W. Norman Brown (1892–1975), American Indologist and Sanskritist
• William Yancey Brown (born 1948), American zoologist and attorney

Sportspeople

Clergymen and theologians

• William Laurence Brown (1755–1830), Scottish divine (theologian)
• William Brown (clergyman) (1766–1835), Scottish clergyman and Hebraist
• William Montgomery Brown (1855–1937), American Episcopalian bishop and Communist author
• William P. Brown, American Presbyterian minister, author and biblical theologian
• William Haig Brown (1823–1907), English cleric and headmaster of Charterhouse School
• William Brown (priest) (1710–1797), Archdeacon of Northampton
• William Cabell Brown (1861–1927), American Episcopal missionary and bishop of Virginia
• William A. Brown (bishop) (1878–1965), American who served as the fourth Bishop of Southern Virginia
• William Adams Brown, American minister, professor and philanthropist
• William Francis Brown (1862–1951), bishop, see Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark

Engineers

• William Liston Brown (1842–1929), American industrialist
• William C. Brown (1916–1999), American electrical engineer
• William F. Brown (engineer) (1919–2010), American welding engineer
• William Brown (bridge designer) (1928–2005), English structural engineer, bridge designer
• William Brown (mining engineer) (1717–1782), English mining engineer, waggonway designer and steam engine builder

Military people

• William Brown (British Army officer) (1922–1984), commander of the Gilgit Scouts during the Partition of India
• William Brown (soldier) (1759–1808), American Revolutionary War soldier
• William Brown (Royal Navy officer) (1764–1814), British Royal Navy admiral
• William Brown (admiral) (1777–1857), or Guillermo Brown, Irish-Argentine Navy admiral
• William Brown (sailor) (birth name unknown), Black woman who briefly served in the Royal Navy in 1815, disguised as a man
• William A. Brown (admiral) (born 1958), vice admiral in the United States Navy
• William H. Brown (Medal of Honor) (1836–1896), American Civil War sailor and Medal of Honor recipient
• William Henry Brown (aviator) (1894–1969), Canadian World War I flying ace
• William Maurice Brown (1910–1975), New Zealand Lt. Colonel; first principal of Faujdarhat Cadet College
• William Gustavus Brown (1809–1883), commander of British troops in China and Hong Kong
• William Perry Brown Jr. (1923–1952), American Marine and recipient of two Navy Crosses

Politicians and diplomats

Writers

• William Brown (journalist) (1737–1789), Canadian journalist and co-founder of the Quebec Gazette
• William Hill Brown (1765–1793), American novelist
• William Wells Brown (1814–1884), fugitive slave, African-American writer, and abolitionist
• William Slater Brown (1896–1997), American novelist, biographer and translator
• William F. Brown (writer) (1928–2019), American playwright
• William Henry Brown (journalist) (1860s–1950), British co-operative movement journalist and activist

Other notable people

• William Brown (physician) (1748–1792), American physician
• William D. Brown (1813–1863), founder of Omaha, Nebraska
• William Brown (miner) (died 1900), British trade union leader
• William Penn Brown (1841–1929), American pioneer in the hobby of stamp collecting
• William J. Brown (architect) (died 1970), American architect
• William Kellock Brown (1856–1934), Scottish sculptor
• William Lincoln Brown (1862–1940), second Register of Copyrights in the United States Copyright Office
• William Robinson Brown (1875–1955), American horse breeder and director of the Brown Company
• William B. Brown (1912–1985), American lawyer and judge in Hawaii and Ohio
• William Theophilus Brown (1919–2012), American artist
• William H. Brown III (born 1928), African American attorney, fourth Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• William Brown (tenor) (1938–2004), American opera singer
• W. Earl Brown (born 1963), American character actor
• William Mason Brown (1828–1898), American artist
• William M. Brown (businessman) (born 1963), American businessman, CEO of Harris Corporation
• William Brown (composer) (1790–1884), American composer and flutist
• William Brown (headmaster) (1914–2005), British headmaster
• William Alexander Brown, African-American playwright and theatrical producer
• Sir William Richmond Brown, 2nd Baronet, English landowner
• Sir William Brown (civil servant), English civil servant
• William Charles Langdon Brown, British banker
• William H. Brown (shipbuilder), American shipbuilder
• Guillermo E. Brown (born 1976), American drummer and multi-disciplinary performer
• William Roger Brown (1831–1902), British industrialist and philanthropist
• William Brown, better known as Compa, British electronic musician

Other uses

• William Brown,the main character in the Just William series
• William Brown (ship), American ship which struck an iceberg and sank on April 19, 1841
• William Brown Library and Museum, historic building in Liverpool, England
• William Brown Street, Liverpool

See also

• Bill Brown (disambiguation)
• Billy Brown (disambiguation)
• William Browne (disambiguation)
• Will Brown (disambiguation)
• Willie Brown (disambiguation)
• William Broun (disambiguation)