Basil

Girls 3% Boys 97% Recorded 1880-2025

Basil is given to both girls and boys: 23 girls and 74 boys were given it in 2025 (#5,431 among girls’ names and #2,022 among boys’, #3,603 among all names counting both); 13,538 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).

An estimated 5,730 Americans named Basil and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (42% of everyone recorded); the median is 43 years old and half are between 19 and 67.

Babies named Basil each year, first recorded in 1880

Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).

Basil or Basel Names of the 1920s Names in New York

Births of Basil by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

What does Basil mean?

Wiktionary, English section

Basil is “a male given name from Ancient Greek, in quiet but steady use in the UK.”

Name of several early saints, particularly in the Orthodox Church, from Latin Basilius, from Ancient Greek Βασίλειος (Basíleios). Doublet of Vasilios and Vasily.

/ˈbæz.əl/

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary, entry Basil (English), CC BY‑SA 4.0. Quoted from the entry; text after a cross-reference to another sense is left out.

Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).

How popular is Basil?

#2,022 among boys’ names, 2025

Basil rose from #2,429 in 2015 to #2,022 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 27.1 to 43.3 per million.

281 babies in 1924, the peak

Basil peaked in 1924, when 281 boys were given it, #354 among boys’ names. The 97 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 35% of that peak.

Girls and boys named Basil each year

Births by sex.

Basil by year
Year	Births	Rank	Per 1,000 boys
2025	74	#2,022	0.04
2024	76	#2,015	0.04
2023	74	#2,032	0.04
2022	88	#1,828	0.05
2021	74	#2,001	0.04
2020	58	#2,325	0.03
2019	71	#2,047	0.04
2018	69	#2,065	0.04
2017	59	#2,243	0.03
2016	60	#2,234	0.03

Every recorded year (146)

Year	Births	Rank	Per 1,000 boys
2015	52	#2,429	0.03
2014	44	#2,710	0.02
2013	56	#2,282	0.03
2012	46	#2,638	0.02
2011	44	#2,705	0.02
2010	47	#2,582	0.02
2009	57	#2,291	0.03
2008	31	#3,487	0.02
2007	58	#2,258	0.03
2006	64	#2,064	0.03
2005	48	#2,396	0.02
2004	41	#2,600	0.02
2003	57	#2,006	0.03
2002	57	#1,941	0.03
2001	60	#1,838	0.03
2000	64	#1,739	0.03
1999	56	#1,776	0.03
1998	66	#1,583	0.03
1997	54	#1,770	0.03
1996	73	#1,419	0.04
1995	65	#1,474	0.03
1994	71	#1,382	0.04
1993	67	#1,415	0.03
1992	73	#1,317	0.04
1991	67	#1,379	0.03
1990	69	#1,332	0.03
1989	49	#1,612	0.02
1988	61	#1,315	0.03
1987	61	#1,247	0.03
1986	67	#1,153	0.04
1985	45	#1,486	0.02
1984	45	#1,423	0.02
1983	78	#1,001	0.04
1982	55	#1,254	0.03
1981	51	#1,294	0.03
1980	60	#1,179	0.03
1979	52	#1,271	0.03
1978	54	#1,216	0.03
1977	62	#1,102	0.04
1976	51	#1,211	0.03
1975	58	#1,099	0.04
1974	48	#1,199	0.03
1973	57	#1,074	0.04
1972	65	#1,000	0.04
1971	66	#999	0.04
1970	64	#1,016	0.03
1969	60	#989	0.03
1968	57	#970	0.03
1967	71	#848	0.04
1966	92	#762	0.05
1965	82	#816	0.04
1964	92	#784	0.05
1963	101	#763	0.05
1962	95	#779	0.05
1961	113	#719	0.05
1960	110	#732	0.05
1959	109	#734	0.05
1958	103	#731	0.05
1957	95	#771	0.04
1956	104	#717	0.05
1955	103	#719	0.05
1954	112	#681	0.05
1953	139	#615	0.07
1952	103	#687	0.05
1951	109	#667	0.06
1950	113	#657	0.06
1949	111	#649	0.06
1948	116	#628	0.07
1947	158	#535	0.09
1946	117	#594	0.07
1945	101	#603	0.08
1944	117	#564	0.09
1943	132	#544	0.09
1942	169	#472	0.12
1941	132	#514	0.11
1940	140	#490	0.12
1939	135	#495	0.12
1938	157	#460	0.14
1937	145	#464	0.14
1936	189	#401	0.18
1935	175	#417	0.17
1934	159	#447	0.15
1933	172	#413	0.17
1932	200	#396	0.19
1931	154	#454	0.15
1930	219	#386	0.20
1929	238	#373	0.22
1928	191	#431	0.17
1927	249	#371	0.22
1926	232	#385	0.21
1925	259	#370	0.23
1924	281	#354	0.25
1923	245	#379	0.22
1922	247	#382	0.23
1921	266	#374	0.24
1920	243	#383	0.23
1919	262	#352	0.27
1918	239	#387	0.24
1917	221	#379	0.24
1916	244	#341	0.27
1915	243	#339	0.29
1914	161	#375	0.25
1913	120	#387	0.23
1912	114	#359	0.27
1911	69	#329	0.31
1910	46	#383	0.24
1909	37	#403	0.23
1908	39	#366	0.25
1907	39	#352	0.27
1906	32	#378	0.24
1905	30	#384	0.23
1904	37	#328	0.29
1903	23	#413	0.19
1902	32	#348	0.26
1901	28	#347	0.26
1900	37	#359	0.25
1899	28	#338	0.26
1898	27	#379	0.22
1897	33	#322	0.29
1896	34	#324	0.28
1895	22	#416	0.19
1894	27	#349	0.23
1893	22	#383	0.20
1892	22	#406	0.18
1891	12	#525	0.12
1890	17	#436	0.15
1889	16	#466	0.14
1888	20	#418	0.17
1887	13	#491	0.13
1886	10	#613	0.09
1885	14	#500	0.13
1884	11	#574	0.10
1883	8	#686	0.08
1882	12	#541	0.11
1881	9	#600	0.09
1880	11	#572	0.10

Download Basil’s births by year (CSV)

Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.

Is Basil a boy’s or a girl’s name?

Of the 13,538 Americans recorded as Basil, 3% are girls and 97% boys.

Share of girls among babies named Basil, by year

Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.

Girls and boys named Basil: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.

How many people are named Basil, and how old are they?

5,730 alive in 2026, estimated

That is 42% of the 13,538 Americans ever recorded as Basil. The median Basil alive today is 43 years old; half are between 19 and 67.

The 2020 Census counted 7,831 people named Basil (287 women and girls, 7,544 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 5,916 born in the U.S. The Census count is 32% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.

Alive today, by age

Women and girlsMen and boys

0100-1094

090-99124

080-89429

070-79698

060-69760

050-59524

040-49529

030-39629

720-29555

12610-19490

2190-9639

Alive today, by generation

By generation
Generation	Born	Alive
Silent Generation	1928-1945	496
Baby Boomers	1946-1964	1,370
Generation X	1965-1980	877
Millennials	1981-1996	948
Generation Z	1997-2012	893
Generation Alpha	2013-2025	1,140

An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.

Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).

Where are babies named Basil born?

The states with the most babies named Basil are New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, with 37% of its births recorded by state since 1910; West Virginia is not among the ten states with the most births.

States with the most births: girls and boys together; rank among boys’ names in the state in 2025
State	Since 1910	Rank, boys	vs. national
New York	1,104	not ranked	1.0×
Pennsylvania	853	#1,117	1.0×
West Virginia	739	not ranked	4.3×
Michigan	530	not ranked	1.1×
California	461	#2,240	0.5×
Ohio	434	not ranked	0.7×
Texas	367	#2,622	0.4×
Missouri	328	not ranked	1.0×
Indiana	326	not ranked	1.0×
Illinois	258	not ranked	0.4×

Where Basil is more common than its national share predicts

Relative to its national share, Basil is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1910 it was given 4.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.

West Virginia4.27×

Maine2.02×

Michigan1.06×

Bars start at 1× (as often as the national share predicts).

States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Basil with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.

Names spelled alike

Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 14,438 babies since 1880, Basil is the most given (94% of them). In 2025 it was given to 97 of their 113 babies (86%), again the most given.

Basil and the names spelled alike
Name	Since 1880	Births 2025	Peak year
Basil	13,538	97	1924
Basel	552	11	2000
Bassel	296	5	2013
Bassil	52	under 5	2007

Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.

Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Basil

Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.

Name	Recorded	1880-2025
Erwin	21,262
Virgil	73,453
Walton	5,899
Ottis	4,647
Edmon	1,200
Rowland	4,279

Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

More about Basil and names like it

Compare Basil and BaselBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
The most given names of the 1920sBasil peaked in 1924.
New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Basil since 1910.
Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Basil: every such name, by how often it is given.
The top names of 1924The year the most babies were named Basil.
The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Basil alive today were born 1946-1964.
Names starting with BMost given first.

Compare Basil with another name