# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/william-of-ockham
# Generated: 2026-09-01T05:04:34.302Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/william-of-ockham"
name: "William of Ockham"
slug: "william-of-ockham"
description: "A medieval friar whose name became a principle: cut away the unnecessary, favor the simplest answer. Occam's razor still slices through bad explanations seven centuries later."
tagline: "English Franciscan friar and theologian (c.1287–1347)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/William_of_Ockham.png"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United Kingdom"
  isoCode: "GB"
category:
  name: "Academics"
  slug: "academics"
profileType:
  name: "Academic"
  slug: "academic"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1287"
deathDate: "1349-04-09"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           65.44
  momentum:             0.12
  historical:           25.09656
  currentAttention:     2.388888888888889
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
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  - name: "Medieval Era"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "Guillermu d'Ockham"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "William o Ockham"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
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    title: "Wikiquote"
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# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born around 1287 in a Surrey village, William of Ockham joined the Franciscans and built a career in scholastic philosophy that made him a lightning rod. His works on logic, physics, and theology put him at the center of the 14th century's fiercest intellectual and political fights. Fifteenth-century nominalists claimed him as a founder of their movement, drawn to his willingness to strip metaphysics down to what could be defended. He died in April 1347, likely a plague victim, but the methodological principle that carries his name outlasted every controversy he ever touched.