Billy
Masculine · “resolute protection”
Billy is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 384,233 boys against 5,432 girls since 1880. See Billy as a girl name
Billy is the affectionate end of one of the oldest names in English: William, worn down to Will, swapped to Bill by an old rhyming habit, then softened with a -y. Two beats, no silent letters, nothing to spell out over the phone. It has been written on American birth certificates in its own right, not just as a shortening, for well over a century.
How old is the name Billy?
Billy was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Billy alive today was born around 1949, making them about 76 years old. About 202,000 people named Billy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Billy most popular?
Billy peaked in 1931, reaching #19 nationally. Today it ranks #1068, 1,049 places below that high. See the whole 1931 chart.
Where it comes from
From Wilhelm to Billy
The story of Billy
William arrived in England with the Norman conquest of 1066 and became one of the most common men's names in the language for the next several centuries. Will was the natural short form; Bill came from the medieval fondness for rhyme-swapping a nickname's first sound, the same habit that turned Rob into Bob and Rick into Dick. Billy adds the diminutive -y that English has attached to names for just as long. By the nineteenth century, plenty of American families had stopped treating it as a nickname at all and simply named the boy Billy.
Meaning
resolute protection — from Germanic elements meaning 'will, desire' and 'helmet'
The meaning belongs to William, of which Billy is the pet form. Billy itself carries no separate sense.
How the name formed
- Wilhelm
- William
- Will
- Bill
- Billy
Related forms: Wilhelm · Guillermo · Guillaume · Willem · Liam · Guglielmo
Pronouncing Billy
BIL-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Identical in sound to the spelling Billie, which is the form more often given to girls.
Nicknames for Billy
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19349,562 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #19reached in 1931
- Change vs 2022
- −8.1%203 in 2025, from 221
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Billy in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Wilhelm in German — related form
- Guillermo in Spanish — related form
- Guillaume in French — related form
- Willem in Dutch — related form
- Liam in Irish — related form
- Guglielmo in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Billys among us
people named Billy are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 8,414 born in 2025 was named Billy
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Ralph test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Billy's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ralph climbed just as high around 1914, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ralph's path sketches the road Billy is walking now.
Billy has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Billy is headed
Billy should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Billy beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Billy in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled and said correctly on the first try by nearly every English speaker — no clarifying, no repeating.
- Comes with ready-made alternatives at every level of formality: Bill, Will, and William itself for a résumé or a diploma.
- On the US charts without interruption since records began, through several complete turns of fashion.
- Connects to a name family that exists in most European languages, from Guillermo to Willem to Liam.
- It reads as a nickname to many ears, which is why some parents register William and use Billy day to day. Given on its own, it stays casual in settings where a longer name might be expected.
- The men carrying this name today are mostly of an older generation, so it can sound like a grandfather's name before it sounds like a child's — though a child bearing it will likely be the only one in the class.
- Billie, the near-identical spelling, is the one usually given to girls, so expect the occasional mix-up in writing.
- Everyday English has billy goat, billy club and billycan floating around. Harmless, but the wordplay will get made at some point.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Billy
Masculine · #1068 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Billys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 202,000 people named Billy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Billy in 2025?
- Billy ranks #1068 among US boy names in 2025, with 203 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Billy?
- About 1 in every 8,414 US boys born in 2025 was named Billy — 203 in all.
- Will my child share the name Billy with classmates?
- Billy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Billy
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nazir#1069 · Zaylen#1069 · Kellen#1069 · Kody#1069 · Ismail#1064 · Neo#1064 · Ronnie#1064 · Eider#1064
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Billy? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Billy and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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