Basil
From the Greek basileus, meaning "king" or "kingly".
Name Census estimates that about 6,179 living Americans carry the first name Basil. It is a predominantly male name (97.4% of registrations). The average person named Basil today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Basil births was 1924 (281 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Basil. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Basil with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Basil is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 343 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
6.2K
~ 1 in 55,471 Americans
Peak year
1924
281 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,009
Tracked since 1880
Census
Basil in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,826 people with the first name Basil, which placed it at #2,909 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,909
National first-name rank
People counted
7.8K
7,826 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Basil
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Basil is White at 61.9%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Basil described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Basil at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.9% · 4,844
- Black or African American23.4% · 1,828
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 462
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 309
- Two or more races3.6% · 285
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 98
Gender
Gender distribution for Basil
Basil leans heavily male at 97.4% of total registrations, but 343 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Basil as a male name
- Ranked #2,009 in 2024
- 76 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1924 (281 births)
Basil as a female name
- Ranked #6,183 in 2024
- 19 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (29 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Basil leans strongly male. 7,544 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 287 female bearers (3.7%).
Popularity
Basil: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Basil from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,455 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Basil by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Basil during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Basils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Basil, while Nebraska, Georgia, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 215 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Basil
The name Basil originates from the Greek word "basileus" meaning "king" or "kingly". It is derived from the Phoenician word "basiliu" which translates to "king" as well. The name has been in use since ancient times and is believed to have first appeared in the 4th century AD.
Basil was a popular name among early Christian saints and martyrs. One of the most notable figures was Saint Basil the Great, a 4th-century bishop of Caesarea who was instrumental in shaping the traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Church. His writings and teachings had a profound impact on the development of Christian theology.
In the 9th century, Basil I, also known as Basil the Macedonian, was the founder of the Macedonian dynasty and reigned as the Byzantine Emperor from 867 to 886 AD. He is credited with stabilizing the empire and implementing various reforms during his rule.
Another famous Basil was Basil II, also known as Basil the Bulgar Slayer, who was the Byzantine Emperor from 976 to 1025 AD. He was a skilled military leader and expanded the empire's territories through his conquests.
In the realm of literature, Basil was the name of one of the major characters in the novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde, published in 1890. The character, Basil Hallward, was a painter whose masterpiece portrait of Dorian Gray played a central role in the storyline.
Basil Rathbone, born in 1892 and died in 1967, was a famous English actor best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in numerous films and radio productions. His performances as the legendary detective have become iconic in popular culture.
Throughout history, the name Basil has been associated with royalty, leadership, and significant figures in various fields, reflecting its regal and prestigious connotations.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Basil
People
Basil + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Basil as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Basil: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Basil?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,179 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Basil going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 55,471 US residents.
Is Basil a common name?
We classify Basil as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,438 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Basil most popular?
The single biggest year for Basil was 1924, when 281 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Basil is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Basil in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,826 people with the name Basil, or 2.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,909 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Basil in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Basil?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Basil leans strongly male. 7,544 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 287 female bearers (3.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Basil?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Basil is White at 61.9%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Basil most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Basil in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.9% (4,844 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Basil in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Basil a male name?
Yes, 97.4% of people registered as Basil in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Basil still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Basil in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Basil can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Basil?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Basil at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.