Bill
A pet form of William, with the medieval rhyming shift from Will.
Popularity, 1880–2025
Bill appears in the national records from the very first year, 1880. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American boys in 29 different years between 1923 and 1960. Its biggest year was 1947, when 4,681 newborn boys received the name, ranking it No. 76 nationally. Its best ranking came in 1931, at No. 57. All told, 161,190 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other names that share a story: William, Will
Explore Bill interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 600 | No. 171 |
| 1890s | 789 | No. 174 |
| 1900s | 1,513 | No. 117 |
| 1910s | 6,599 | No. 124 |
| 1920s | 22,288 | No. 63 |
| 1930s | 32,338 | No. 57 |
| 1940s | 37,756 | No. 65 |
| 1950s | 23,877 | No. 93 |
| 1960s | 25,132 | No. 95 |
| 1970s | 5,206 | No. 233 |
| 1980s | 1,815 | No. 539 |
| 1990s | 1,153 | No. 885 |
| 2000s | 845 | No. 1188 |
| 2010s | 423 | No. 2375 |
| 2020s | 140 | No. 3653 |
Births and rank shown for boys, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.
🍼 Enjoying this? Buy my baby a diaper
Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.