Bill
Boy nameBill has been given to 161,190 babies in the U.S. since 1880. It peaked in 1947.
Meaning & origin /bɪl/
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
161,190
Peak year
1947 (4,688 babies)
Rank in 2025
Below top 1000
First recorded
1880
10-year trend
▼ -45%
Gender split
0% girls / 100% boys
Famous people named Bill
Bill Clinton
President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 (born 1946)
Bill Cosby
American actor and comedian (born 1937)
William Shatner
Canadian actor (born 1931)
Bill Russell
American basketball player (1934–2022)
Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Bill.
Get new name insights first
Occasional updates when we add new data & tools. No spam, unsubscribe anytime by replying to any email or writing to hello@zalize.com.
By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. We store only your email address and the date you signed up.