Given name & surname · Bulgarian · Russian
Василий
“of the king, kingly, royal”
Василий (Vasílij) is a masculine given name from Byzantine Greek, ultimately from Ancient Greek. It is used in Russian and Bulgarian.
Bulgarian and RussianWritten in Cyrillic script. In English: Basil.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Василий goes back to Ancient Greek βασίλειος, meaning “of the king, kingly, royal.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Василий comes from Byzantine Greek, and ultimately from Ancient Greek.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Byzantine Greek Βασίλειος, from Ancient Greek βασίλειος (“of the king, kingly, royal”), built from Ancient Greek βᾰσῐλεύς (“king”) + -ῐος.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Василий’s family of names
In Russian usage, Василий has a diminutive in Ва́ся. In Bulgarian usage, Василий has a conventional equivalent in the English form Basil. In Russian usage, Василий has a conventional equivalent in the Italian form Basilio.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Василий has relatives in 16 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Василий comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 5
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 40
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- BasilEnglish, German
- Vasiliosequivalent
- Vasiliequivalent
- BasilioItalian
- Vasilijeequivalent
- BasileFrench
- Bazilequivalent
- Wassilequivalent
Show 32 moreShow fewer
- VasilCzech
- Wasilequivalent
- Vasilisequivalent
- Vasileequivalent
- Wasylequivalent
- Vassiliosequivalent
- VasilyEnglish
- Васільequivalent
- Wassilyequivalent
- Βασίλειοςsource · Greek, Ancient Greek
- BazyliPolish
- Vasilijusborrowing · Lithuanian
- Basiliusequivalent
- Pasiequivalent
- Vasylequivalent
- Vassiliequivalent
- Basiliequivalent
- Vazulequivalent
- Βασίληςequivalent
- Vasjaequivalent
- Baziloequivalent
- Bazilijequivalent
- ვასილequivalent
- Basilideequivalent
- Василequivalent
- Basílioequivalent
- Васи́лийhas masculine form
- Васильalso known as · Ukrainian, Russian
- БасилOssetian
- WassiliGerman
- VászolyHungarian
- فاسيليArabic
People named Василий
- Wassily Kandinskyavant-garde painter of Russian origin (1866-1944)
- Vasily ZhukovskyRussian poet (1783-1852)
- Wassily LeontiefRussian economist (1906-1999)
- Vasily SmyslovSoviet chess grandmaster (1921–2010)
- Vasili IV of RussiaTsar of Russia (1606–1610)1552–1612
- Vasily VereshchaginRussian painter (1842-1904)
- Vasily ZaitsevSoviet sniper (1915-1991)
- Vasily ShukshinSoviet actor, writer, screenwriter and film director (1929-1974)
- Vasily SurikovRussian artist (1848-1916)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Василий, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Bosiljko
“of the king, kingly, royal”
>99% boys
Baltsaros
“baal protect the king”
—
Offa
“a king”
>99% boys
Dagorīxs
“good” · “king”
>99% boys
Prinscelle
“a highborn daughter; born to royalty”
—
Sally-Anne
“a gracious princess”
—
Kyngmann
“the king's man”
—
Laquienton
“from the queen's town or settlement”
—