Yes. The pear known in the United States as the Bartlett is called the Williams pear (or Williams' Bon Chrétien) in the UK. It's known by scores of other names throughout the world.

The pear was first discovered in England in the mid-1700s. The discoverer was a schoolmaster named Stair, and so the pear became known as Stair's Pear. Stair sold the variety to a nurseryman named Richard Williams, who popularized it throughout England, where it eventually became known as the Williams pear (or Williams' Bon Chrétien).

In 1797, a Bostonian named James Carter brought the variety to the United States. Twenty years later, Enoch Bartlett bought an estate where the Williams had been planted. Not knowing what to call the pear, he named it after himself and propagated it under the name Bartlett.

By the mid-1980s, more than 80% of the pears grown in the U.S. were Bartletts. Today, the Bartlett shares the stage with Anjou and Bosc pears, but it still makes up 50% of the American pear crop.

In France, the Williams pear is used to make an eau de vie called Poire William.

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