Oh yeah, I don't know if it's the same in Norwegian but in Danish those names are pronounced:
Paul - Powl
William - Vil-yam
Laura - La-U-ra
...or something. But yes, some names just get butchered. The Danish pronounciation of Kristian (my name) is also quite different from the English one, but I guess that's sort of a given. I also like the name Eric as an English name, but as a Danish one it's just not good.