William Shaw is the name of a number of prominent people.

• William Shaw (Irish politician) (1823–1895), Leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party after Issac Butt. He was deposed by Charles Stewart Parnell in 1880.
• William Shaw (philosopher) (born 1948), chair of the Philosophy department in San José State University
• William Shaw (Reverend), 17th century British Christian clergyman who founded Barton, Maryland in the United States in 1794.
• William Shaw (businessman) President and Chief Operating officer of Marriott International Inc.
• William Shaw (writer), British journalist and writer.
• William Rawson Shaw (1860–1932), British politician, MP for Halifax 1893–1897