William George Linich (February 22, 1940 – July 18, 2016), known professionally as Billy Name, was an American photographer, filmmaker, and lighting designer.

[4] In 2001, the United States Postal Service used one of Billy Name's portraits of Warhol when it issued a commemorative stamp of the artist.

[5] Name also collaborated with Shepard Fairey with his photograph of Nico, singer with the Velvet Underground and part of the social circle of Warhol's Factory.

The origin of Linich's assumption of his theatrical surname was explained this way: "He acquired his superstar identity.

Name began his career as a lighting designer in the theater in 1960 while working as a waiter at Serendipity 3, the mid-town dessert establishment.

[7] His first apprenticeship was with Nick Cernovich, part of the Black Mountain College contingency in New York in the 1950s, who had won an Obie Award for best lighting.

He gave the impression of being generally creative, he dabbled in lights and papers and artists materials...I picked up a lot from Billy."

[8] Name had met Warhol fleetingly at Serendipity 3, where he was a waiter, and then later through Ray Johnson, who brought Name to an event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Johnson had attended Black Mountain College in the 1940s, and the younger Linich was a fan of that circle's pre-Beat, zen way of interacting with the world.

"[10] Name and Warhol eventually became lovers, but the romantic aspect of their relationship slowly dissolved into mutual loyalty and admiration.

With the gift of Warhol's 35 mm single-lens reflex Honeywell Pentax camera, along with its operating manual, Name taught himself the technical aspects of photography.