# Billington (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/billington/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A habitational surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,678 |
| US rank (2010) | 8,904 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 83,944 people |
| Change since 2000 | +0.2% (3,671 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Billinton |

## Etymology

Two different origins: * The place in Bedfordshire is recorded in 1196 as Billendon, from the Old English personal name *Billa + -ing (“belonging to”) + dūn (“hill”). * The village in Lancashire is probably named with *billing (“sword-shaped, ridge-shaped”) (see bill) + dūn (“hill”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Billington in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 87% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 8.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Billington in the United States and the United Kingdom.

## People named Billington

- James H. Billington, 13th Librarian of Congress (1929–2018)
- Francelia Billington, American actress (1895-1934)
- Teddy Billington, American racing cyclist
- Michael Billington, British actor (1941–2005)
- Michael Billington, British author and arts critic (born 1939)

## Similar surnames

Bullington, Billings, Billingsley, Billing, Blankenship, Blanchard, Blanco, Bowling, Blank, Belanger, Bollinger, Bolanos.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.