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William (“the Bard”; “the Bard of Avon”) 1564–1616, English poet and dramatist.
Contemporary Examples

About all our books have in common is our shameless use of Shakespeare as a source.
Book Bag: 5 Novels Shakespeare Sort of Wrote Lois Leveen October 9, 2014

We know roughly as much about Bach the man as we know about Shakespeare.
John Eliot Gardiner Discusses His Monumental Bach Biography Malcolm Jones November 9, 2013

What most amazes me about the following novels is the variety of approaches they take to Shakespeare riffing/ripping.
Book Bag: 5 Novels Shakespeare Sort of Wrote Lois Leveen October 9, 2014

He was described by Shakespeare as having a hunchback and indeed the skeleton shows evidence of curvature of the spine.
CONFIRMED: Skeleton Found Under City Car Park IS That Of Villainous Richard III Tom Sykes February 3, 2013

The group refers to themselves as The Drunk Shakespeare Society, a “drinking club with a Shakespeare problem”.
Is That a Bottle of Wine I See Before Me? The Delights of Drunk Shakespeare Tom Teodorczuk May 31, 2014

Historical Examples

Eliza said that she had found her scissors, and very likely I should find the Shakespeare some other night.
Eliza Barry Pain

Then of Stratfordians who had seen people who had known or seen people who had seen Shakespeare?
Is Shakespeare Dead? Mark Twain

There can be no question that these speeches in “Macbeth” were written by some other hand than Shakespeare’s.
The Galaxy Various

And what does the same high authority say about Shakespeare?
Is Shakespeare Dead? Mark Twain

I think so; it seems to me that, if Falstaff had been a creation, Shakespeare must have reproduced him more effectively.
The Man Shakespeare Frank Harris

noun
William. 1564–1616, English dramatist and poet. He was born and died at Stratford-upon-Avon but spent most of his life as an actor and playwright in London. His plays with approximate dates of composition are: Henry VI, Parts I–III (1590); Richard III (1592); The Comedy of Errors (1592); Titus Andronicus (1593); The Taming of the Shrew (1593); The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594); Love’s Labour’s Lost (1594); Romeo and Juliet (1594); Richard II (1595); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595); King John (1596); The Merchant of Venice (1596); Henry IV, Parts I–II (1597); Much Ado about Nothing (1598); Henry V (1598); Julius Caesar (1599); As You Like It (1599); Twelfth Night (1599); Hamlet (1600); The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600); Troilus and Cressida (1601); All’s Well that ends Well (1602); Measure for Measure (1604); Othello (1604); King Lear (1605); Macbeth (1605); Antony and Cleopatra (1606); Coriolanus (1607); Timon of Athens (1607); Pericles (1608); Cymbeline (1609); The Winter’s Tale (1610); The Tempest (1611); and, possibly in collaboration with John Fletcher, Two Noble Kinsmen (1612) and Henry VIII (1612). His Sonnets, variously addressed to a fair young man and a dark lady, were published in 1609

surname recorded from 1248; it means “a spearman.” This was a common type of English surname, e.g. Shakelance (1275), Shakeshaft (1332). Shake (v.) in the sense of “to brandish or flourish (a weapon)” is attested from late Old English

Heo scæken on heore honden speren swiðe stronge. [Laymon, “Brut,” c. 1205]

Cf. also shake-buckler “a swaggerer, a bully;” shake-rag “ragged fellow, tatterdemalion.” “Never a name in English nomenclature so simple or so certain in origin. It is exactly what it looks — Shakespear” [Bardsley, “Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames,” 1901]. Nevertheless, speculation flourishes. The name was variously written in contemporary records, also Shakespear, Shakespere, the last form being the one adopted by the New Shakespere Society of London and the first edition of the OED. Related: Shakespearian (1753); Shakesperean (1796); Shakesperian (1755).