Given name & surname

Basil

“royal”·“of the royal family; a kingly man”

Basil is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “royal” (Greek) and “of the royal family; a kingly man” (Greek). These may reflect different naming traditions.

Original GreekΒασίλειος

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Meaning & origin

What it means

Interpretations include “royal” (Greek) and “of the royal family; a kingly man” (Greek). These may reflect different naming traditions.

Where it comes from

An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.

How it developed

In German usage, Basil is a short form of Basilius. In English usage, Basil developed from Βασίλειος.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Basil through the years

Babies since 1880: 13,538; 13,172 boys · 366 girls
Most popular year: 1924; 281 babies
2025: 97; #2,022 for boys · #5,432 for girls
2021–25 vs 2016–20: +17%; Rising

Boys Girls

Basil in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1880–2025, per million births of each sex. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

Boys, girls and both

The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 74% boys.

Boys Girls

Five-year rolling share of U.S. births. Blank stretches had too few births to read.

Where it’s given

Most at home inTennessee, Pennsylvania, California

FewerMore, relative to births Not published

2025 births by state of birth. Tiles are equal-sized so small states stay visible. Highest rates: Tennessee (5), Pennsylvania (6), California (6), Texas (5).

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 74 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,022 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 21.8% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 281 in 1924. It also appeared in 23 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California and Pennsylvania shared the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (6 each). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 7,831 as a first name in 2020; 1,960 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Basil’s family of names

In Dutch usage, Basil has a diminutive in BASIEL. In English usage, Basil shares an earlier linguistic root with Vasilios. In English usage, Basil has a conventional equivalent in the Galician form Basilio.

Walk Basil’s family in the name graph

Around the world

Basil has relatives in 40 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.

Ancient Greekwhere Basil comes from · 1 name

Βασίλειος

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Dots on the border stand for languages further away. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Nicknames & forms 15

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

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Spellings & scripts 3

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Across languages 62

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

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And 2 more.

People named Basil

Characters named Basil: Basil Fawlty (the British comedy series Fawlty Towers).

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Appears in

Similar names

If you love Basil, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Shared

Sibling ideas

Names that share Basil’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

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