Billy

What Billy means

Diminutive of William, meaning “will + helmet”

diminutive of the male given name William || From Middle English William, from Anglo-Norman Willame, from Old High German Willahelm, from Proto-Germanic *Wiljahelmaz (> Latin Gulielmus), from Proto-Germanic *wiljô (“will”) + *helmaz (“helmet”), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European

Source: Wiktionary, “Billy” (revision 94534886) and “William” (revision 94595525), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Billy?

US: Falling: down from #810 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #120 in 2015, #110 now.

Biggest US share so far: 1934, when 9,562 boys got the name (#20 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 8,414 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 565 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 982 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MS (0.74 per 1,000 boys), KS (0.43 per 1,000 boys), OK (0.4 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Billy is #1068 in the US and #110 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 93.5% of US babies named Billy were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Bailey138 US · 178 E&W
• Biel17 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Billie

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Billy

Boys

• Richard#234“king, ruler + hard, brave”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Robert#92“shining glory”^*
• Steven#271“crown, wreath”^*
• Kenneth#294“handsome”^*
• Patrick#235“patrician”^*

For a sister

• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*
• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Rachel#250“ewe”^*
• Sarah#90“masters, princes”^*
• Mary#125Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Billy’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.