Billy
Billy was given to 203 boys in 2025, #1,068 among boys’ names; 389,665 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 190,000 Americans named Billy and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (49% of everyone recorded); the median is 63 years old and half are between 49 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Billy by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Billy mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Billy is “a diminutive of the male given name William.”
Diminutive and pet-form; from Bill + -y.
/ˈbɪli/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Billy?
#1,068 among boys’ names, 2025
Billy fell from #810 in 2015 to #1,068 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.15 to 0.12 per 1,000.
9,659 babies in 1934, the peak
Billy peaked in 1934, when 9,659 babies were given it (9,562 boys, #20 among boys’ names). The 217 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 2% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 203 | #1,068 | 0.12 |
| 2024 | 210 | #1,051 | 0.12 |
| 2023 | 195 | #1,096 | 0.11 |
| 2022 | 221 | #1,007 | 0.13 |
| 2021 | 208 | #1,037 | 0.12 |
| 2020 | 212 | #999 | 0.12 |
| 2019 | 245 | #891 | 0.14 |
| 2018 | 262 | #846 | 0.14 |
| 2017 | 268 | #830 | 0.14 |
| 2016 | 261 | #863 | 0.14 |
Every recorded year (145)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 282 | #810 | 0.15 |
| 2014 | 288 | #797 | 0.15 |
| 2013 | 349 | #685 | 0.18 |
| 2012 | 356 | #664 | 0.19 |
| 2011 | 397 | #611 | 0.21 |
| 2010 | 391 | #624 | 0.20 |
| 2009 | 443 | #591 | 0.22 |
| 2008 | 460 | #565 | 0.23 |
| 2007 | 546 | #486 | 0.26 |
| 2006 | 566 | #471 | 0.28 |
| 2005 | 560 | #456 | 0.28 |
| 2004 | 566 | #457 | 0.29 |
| 2003 | 601 | #426 | 0.30 |
| 2002 | 582 | #426 | 0.30 |
| 2001 | 676 | #384 | 0.35 |
| 2000 | 670 | #385 | 0.34 |
| 1999 | 748 | #350 | 0.39 |
| 1998 | 813 | #332 | 0.43 |
| 1997 | 814 | #324 | 0.43 |
| 1996 | 948 | #286 | 0.50 |
| 1995 | 1,063 | #264 | 0.56 |
| 1994 | 1,125 | #256 | 0.58 |
| 1993 | 1,353 | #222 | 0.69 |
| 1992 | 1,282 | #230 | 0.64 |
| 1991 | 1,357 | #220 | 0.67 |
| 1990 | 1,439 | #214 | 0.70 |
| 1989 | 1,505 | #193 | 0.75 |
| 1988 | 1,509 | #185 | 0.79 |
| 1987 | 1,622 | #168 | 0.87 |
| 1986 | 1,686 | #159 | 0.92 |
| 1985 | 1,831 | #150 | 1.0 |
| 1984 | 1,946 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1983 | 2,151 | #124 | 1.2 |
| 1982 | 2,526 | #116 | 1.4 |
| 1981 | 2,883 | #103 | 1.6 |
| 1980 | 2,991 | #100 | 1.7 |
| 1979 | 2,998 | #97 | 1.7 |
| 1978 | 2,695 | #99 | 1.6 |
| 1977 | 2,950 | #91 | 1.8 |
| 1976 | 3,158 | #85 | 2.0 |
| 1975 | 3,113 | #84 | 2.0 |
| 1974 | 3,365 | #78 | 2.1 |
| 1973 | 3,437 | #76 | 2.2 |
| 1972 | 3,473 | #81 | 2.1 |
| 1971 | 3,907 | #75 | 2.2 |
| 1970 | 4,121 | #78 | 2.2 |
| 1969 | 3,773 | #77 | 2.1 |
| 1968 | 3,814 | #76 | 2.2 |
| 1967 | 3,984 | #76 | 2.3 |
| 1966 | 4,182 | #80 | 2.3 |
| 1965 | 4,649 | #77 | 2.5 |
| 1964 | 5,192 | #71 | 2.6 |
| 1963 | 5,241 | #74 | 2.6 |
| 1962 | 5,588 | #71 | 2.7 |
| 1961 | 6,026 | #68 | 2.8 |
| 1960 | 6,023 | #67 | 2.8 |
| 1959 | 6,308 | #65 | 3.0 |
| 1958 | 6,160 | #64 | 2.9 |
| 1957 | 6,146 | #64 | 2.8 |
| 1956 | 6,013 | #68 | 2.8 |
| 1955 | 5,769 | #69 | 2.8 |
| 1954 | 6,033 | #65 | 3.0 |
| 1953 | 5,856 | #65 | 3.0 |
| 1952 | 5,708 | #65 | 2.9 |
| 1951 | 5,610 | #64 | 3.0 |
| 1950 | 5,674 | #57 | 3.2 |
| 1949 | 5,821 | #57 | 3.3 |
| 1948 | 6,220 | #53 | 3.5 |
| 1947 | 6,933 | #51 | 3.8 |
| 1946 | 6,716 | #45 | 4.1 |
| 1945 | 6,022 | #42 | 4.5 |
| 1944 | 6,545 | #38 | 4.8 |
| 1943 | 7,012 | #37 | 4.9 |
| 1942 | 7,313 | #35 | 5.3 |
| 1941 | 7,655 | #27 | 6.2 |
| 1940 | 7,596 | #27 | 6.6 |
| 1939 | 7,474 | #24 | 6.8 |
| 1938 | 8,253 | #24 | 7.4 |
| 1937 | 8,301 | #22 | 7.8 |
| 1936 | 8,587 | #22 | 8.3 |
| 1935 | 9,241 | #19 | 8.9 |
| 1934 | 9,562 | #20 | 9.3 |
| 1933 | 8,938 | #20 | 9.0 |
| 1932 | 9,436 | #20 | 9.0 |
| 1931 | 9,264 | #19 | 8.9 |
| 1930 | 9,285 | #20 | 8.5 |
| 1929 | 8,320 | #23 | 7.7 |
| 1928 | 7,310 | #27 | 6.6 |
| 1927 | 6,463 | #31 | 5.7 |
| 1926 | 5,180 | #40 | 4.7 |
| 1925 | 4,207 | #49 | 3.8 |
| 1924 | 3,271 | #63 | 2.9 |
| 1923 | 2,488 | #78 | 2.3 |
| 1922 | 2,029 | #90 | 1.9 |
| 1921 | 1,622 | #109 | 1.5 |
| 1920 | 1,206 | #132 | 1.1 |
| 1919 | 858 | #154 | 0.88 |
| 1918 | 645 | #198 | 0.64 |
| 1917 | 469 | #231 | 0.51 |
| 1916 | 361 | #264 | 0.41 |
| 1915 | 276 | #307 | 0.33 |
| 1914 | 142 | #401 | 0.22 |
| 1913 | 111 | #409 | 0.22 |
| 1912 | 69 | #471 | 0.16 |
| 1911 | 42 | #453 | 0.19 |
| 1910 | 43 | #407 | 0.22 |
| 1909 | 18 | #637 | 0.11 |
| 1908 | 20 | #566 | 0.13 |
| 1907 | 20 | #543 | 0.14 |
| 1906 | 14 | #646 | 0.11 |
| 1905 | 20 | #508 | 0.15 |
| 1904 | 21 | #468 | 0.16 |
| 1903 | 20 | #473 | 0.17 |
| 1902 | 22 | #440 | 0.18 |
| 1901 | 18 | #455 | 0.17 |
| 1900 | 36 | #365 | 0.24 |
| 1899 | 19 | #427 | 0.18 |
| 1898 | 14 | #577 | 0.11 |
| 1897 | 6 | #951 | 0.05 |
| 1896 | 9 | #783 | 0.08 |
| 1895 | 11 | #641 | 0.09 |
| 1894 | 10 | #678 | 0.09 |
| 1893 | 9 | #710 | 0.08 |
| 1892 | 10 | #691 | 0.08 |
| 1891 | 6 | #853 | 0.06 |
| 1890 | 5 | #1,019 | 0.05 |
| 1889 | 5 | #984 | 0.05 |
| 1888 | 10 | #656 | 0.08 |
| 1887 | 6 | #831 | 0.06 |
| 1886 | 7 | #771 | 0.06 |
| 1885 | 8 | #706 | 0.07 |
| 1884 | 7 | #778 | 0.06 |
| 1882 | 7 | #765 | 0.06 |
| 1881 | 6 | #794 | 0.06 |
| 1880 | 7 | #753 | 0.06 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Billy a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 389,665 Americans recorded as Billy, 1% are girls and 99% boys. In 2025 it went to 14 girls and 203 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Billy: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Billy, and how old are they?
190,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 49% of the 389,665 Americans ever recorded as Billy. The median Billy alive today is 63 years old; half are between 49 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 173,433 people named Billy (2,014 women and girls, 171,419 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 225,135 born in the U.S. The Census count is 23% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 26,600 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 74,900 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 50,600 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 25,200 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 9,100 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 3,270 |
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 Billy born?
The states with the most babies named Billy are Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma, with 30% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Tennessee and Oklahoma are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 62,060 | #880 | 2.6× |
| Tennessee | 28,102 | #1,054 | 3.0× |
| Oklahoma | 23,818 | #559 | 3.6× |
| North Carolina | 23,429 | #829 | 1.9× |
| Alabama | 22,840 | not ranked | 2.5× |
| Arkansas | 20,896 | not ranked | 3.7× |
| Kentucky | 20,864 | #719 | 2.4× |
| Georgia | 18,066 | #677 | 1.7× |
| Mississippi | 16,319 | #372 | 2.4× |
| Missouri | 15,197 | #877 | 1.5× |
Where Billy is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Billy is most over-represented in Arkansas: since 1910 it was given 3.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
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 Billy 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 525,548 babies since 1880, Billy is the most given (74% of them). In 2025 it was given to 217 of their 639 babies (34%), the second most given that year.
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 Billy
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
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 Billy and names like it
- Compare Billy and BillieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sBilly peaked in 1934.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Billy since 1910.
- The top names of 1934The year the most babies were named Billy.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Billy alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.