William de Warenne the 2nd Earl of Surrey, was the son of William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and his first wife Gundred. He is more often referred to as Earl Warenne or Earl of Warenne than as Earl of Surrey.

Sometime around 1093 he tried to marry Matilda , daughter of king Malcolm III of Scotland. She instead married Henry I of England, and this may be the cause of William's great dislike of Henry I, which was to be his apparent motivator in the following years.

He fought at the Battle of Bremule in 1119, and was at Henry's deathbed in 1135.

William's death is recorded as May 11,1138 in the register of Lewes priory and he was buried with his father at the chapter-house there.

In 1118 William acquired the royal-blooded bride he desired when married Elizabeth de Vermandois. She was a daughter of count Hugh of Vermandois, a son of Henry I of France, and was the widow of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester.

By Elizabeth he had three sons and two daughters:
William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey;
Reginald de Warenne, who inherited his father's property in upper Normandy, including the castles of Bellencombre and Mortemer He married Adeline, daughter of William, lord of Wormgay in Norfolk, by whom he had a son William , whose daughter and sole heir Beatrice married first Dodo, lord Bardolf, and secondly Hubert de Burgh; Reginald was one of the persecutors of Archbishop Thomas in 1170.
Ralph de Warenne
Gundrada de Warenne, who married first Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick, and second William, lord of Kendal, and is most remembered for expelling king Stephen's garrison from Warwick Castle;
Ada de Warenne, who married Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon who made many grants to the priory of Lewes