# Bill (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/bill/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /bɪl/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 161,190 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 160,474 / 716 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 373, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Hypocorism of William. It is unclear how the initial W became a B; this could have been part of the medieval trend of swapping letters, similar to Dick for Rick.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 | 5 | 5,625 |
| 1956 | 5 | 6,033 |
| 1958 | 10 | 3,953 |
| 1959 | 6 | 5,618 |
| 1961 | 10 | 4,273 |
| 1962 | 6 | 5,917 |
| 1963 | 9 | 4,572 |
| 1966 | 8 | 4,904 |
| 1967 | 7 | 5,504 |
| 1968 | 6 | 6,319 |
| 1969 | 6 | 6,697 |
| 1970 | 7 | 6,428 |
| 1973 | 6 | 7,518 |
| 1974 | 6 | 7,788 |
| 1986 | 5 | 11,088 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 42 | 2,803 |
| 2012 | 41 | 2,874 |
| 2013 | 50 | 2,464 |
| 2014 | 47 | 2,584 |
| 2015 | 33 | 3,377 |
| 2016 | 39 | 3,000 |
| 2017 | 42 | 2,844 |
| 2018 | 48 | 2,619 |
| 2019 | 28 | 3,805 |
| 2020 | 29 | 3,660 |
| 2021 | 23 | 4,382 |
| 2022 | 26 | 4,104 |
| 2023 | 22 | 4,621 |
| 2024 | 22 | 4,585 |
| 2025 | 18 | 5,235 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 13 | 1,688 |
| 2012 | 12 | 1,852 |
| 2013 | 11 | 1,920 |
| 2014 | 15 | 1,560 |
| 2015 | 11 | 2,020 |
| 2016 | 18 | 1,431 |
| 2017 | 11 | 2,052 |
| 2018 | 6 | 3,011 |
| 2019 | 11 | 1,986 |
| 2020 | 8 | 2,404 |
| 2021 | 11 | 1,984 |
| 2022 | 6 | 3,048 |
| 2023 | 6 | 3,112 |
| 2024 | 7 | 2,921 |
| 2025 | 9 | 2,440 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: بِيل, بِيل
- Armenian: Բիլ
- Bulgarian: Бил
- Chinese: 比爾 /比尔
- Dutch: Bill
- Georgian: ბილ
- Greek: Μπιλ
- Hindi: बिल
- Hungarian: Vili
- Japanese: ビル
- Korean: 빌
- Polish: Bill
- Portuguese: Bill
- Russian: Билл
- Spanish: Guille
- Ukrainian: Білл

## People named Bill

- Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States (1993–2001)
- Bill Cosby, American actor and comedian (born 1937)
- Bill Irwin, American actor, clown, and comedian (born 1950)
- Bill de Blasio, 109th Mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2022
- Bill Maher, American stand-up comedian and television host
- Bill Nighy, British actor (born 1949)
- Bill Pullman, American actor (born 1953)
- Bill Tilden, American tennis player (1893–1953)
- Bill Hicks, American comedian (1961–1994)
- Bill Nye, American science educator, comedian, television host, actor, writer, scientist and mechani
- Bill Nelson, American politician and attorney (born 1942)
- Bill Watterson, American comic artist

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.