Basilia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "queen" or "kingly".
Name Census estimates that about 91 living Americans carry the first name Basilia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Basilia today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Basilia births was 1922 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Basilia. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Basilia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
91
~ 1 in 3,766,531 Americans
Peak year
1922
15 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2008 SSA rank
#17,934
Tracked since 1912
Census
Basilia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,225 people with the first name Basilia, which placed it at #10,729 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
#10,729
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,225 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
85.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Basilia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Basilia is Hispanic at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%) and White (4.0%). 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 Basilia 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 Basilia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino85.5% · 1,047
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.7% · 94
- White4.0% · 49
- Black or African American2.4% · 29
- Two or more races0.5% · 6
Popularity
Basilia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Basilia from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 78 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Basilia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Basilia 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 Basilia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Basilias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Basilia
Basilia is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word "basileus," meaning "king" or "ruler." The name has its roots in ancient Greece, where it was commonly used as a title for monarchs or royalty.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Basilia can be found in the ancient Greek text "Bibliotheca" by Pseudo-Apollodorus, written around the 2nd century AD. In this work, Basilia is mentioned as the daughter of the mythological figure Leucippus.
During the Byzantine Empire, the name Basilia gained popularity among the ruling class and was frequently bestowed upon princesses and noble women. One notable figure with this name was Basilia of Constantinople, who lived in the 9th century AD and was the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise.
In the Middle Ages, the name Basilia spread across Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Greek culture and the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was adopted in various spellings, such as Basilia in Italian, Vassilissa in Russian, and Basilisa in Spanish.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Basilia. These include Basilia Paléologue (1246-1301), a Byzantine princess and the wife of the Duke of Naxos, and Basilia Trikoupi (1854-1938), a Greek author and feminist activist.
Another famous Basilia was Basilia Costaki (1835-1905), a Romanian princess and philanthropist known for her charitable work and support of education. In the 20th century, Basilia Shwan (1924-1997) was a renowned Iraqi sculptor and artist, recognized for her contributions to modern art in the Middle East.
While the name Basilia has fallen out of common usage in many parts of the world, it remains a cherished name in certain regions, particularly those with strong ties to Greek culture and the Eastern Orthodox tradition.
People
Basilia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Basilia 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
Basilia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Basilia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 91 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Basilia 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 3,766,531 US residents.
Is Basilia a common name?
We classify Basilia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 272 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Basilia most popular?
The single biggest year for Basilia was 1922, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Basilia is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Basilia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,225 people with the name Basilia, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,729 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 Basilia 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 Basilia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Basilia appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,227 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Basilia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Basilia is Hispanic at 85.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%) and White (4.0%). 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 Basilia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Basilia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.5% (1,047 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 Basilia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Basilia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Basilia in the SSA data are female. 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 Basilia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Basilia 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 Basilia 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 many people share the name Basilia?
You can see how many Americans are named Basilia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.