William McPherson or Macpherson may refer to:

• William Macpherson (bureaucrat) (1784–1866), Clerk of the Legislative Council of New South Wales
• William Macpherson (British Army officer) (1858–1927), colonel-commandant and author
• William Macpherson (judge) (1926–2021), judge of the High Court of England and Wales and chair of the enquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence
• William MacPherson (priest) (1901–1978), Anglican Dean of Lichfield
• William Macpherson (cricketer), English cricketer
• William McPherson (university president) (1864–1951), president of Ohio State University
• William Murray McPherson (1865–1932), Australian philanthropist and politician
• William McPherson Allen (1900–1985), American aircraft businessman
• William McPherson (writer) (1933–2017), 1977 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
• William David McPherson (1863–1929), Ontario barrister and political figure