Billye
A feminine name derived from the English name Bill, a diminutive of William.
Name Census estimates that about 905 living Americans carry the first name Billye. It is a predominantly female name (96.8% of registrations). The average person named Billye today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Billye births was 1930 (161 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Billye. 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
- • Although Billye is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 112 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Billye is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Billyes were born before 1963.
People living today
905
~ 1 in 378,734 Americans
Peak year
1930
161 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1962 SSA rank
#4,097
Tracked since 1907
Census
Billye in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,404 people with the first name Billye, which placed it at #9,762 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
#9,762
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,404 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Billye
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Billye is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Black (16.2%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Billye 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 Billye at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.5% · 1,088
- Black or African American16.2% · 227
- Two or more races3.1% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Billye
Billye leans heavily female at 96.8% of total registrations, but 112 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Billye as a male name
- Ranked #4,097 in 1962
- 5 male births in 1962
- Peak: 1927 (10 births)
Billye as a female name
- Ranked #12,615 in 2003
- 7 female births in 2003
- Peak: 1930 (151 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Billye leans strongly female. 1,336 people counted with this name were female (95.2%), compared with 68 male bearers (4.8%).
Popularity
Billye: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Billye from the 1900s through to the 2000s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,144 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
Billye 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 Billye during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Billyes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas recorded the most babies named Billye, while Virginia, Missouri, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 173 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Billye
The name Billye has its origins in the Old English language, tracing back to the 11th century. It is derived from the Old English word "bil," which means "sword" or "blade." This name was likely given to individuals who were skilled swordsmen or warriors.
During the Middle Ages, the name Billye was relatively common in England, particularly among the lower classes and peasantry. It was often used as a diminutive form of the more formal name William, which also has roots in Old English.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Billye can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears several times, indicating its widespread use at the time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Billye. One of the earliest was Billye de Warenne, a Norman aristocrat who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England in 1066. He was granted lands in Sussex and played a significant role in the establishment of Norman rule in England.
In the 13th century, Billye de Montfort was a prominent English nobleman and military leader who participated in the Second Barons' War against King Henry III. He was slain at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.
During the 16th century, Billye Shakespeare was a relatively obscure figure, but he was the father of the renowned playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616). While not much is known about Billye Shakespeare himself, his son's literary works have had a profound impact on English literature and language.
In the 18th century, Billye Pitt was a British naval officer who served during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). He was involved in several notable battles and is credited with capturing several French ships.
Billye Crockett, an American frontiersman and folk hero, was born in 1786. He was a skilled hunter, explorer, and soldier who fought in the War of 1812 and the Creek War. He later became a Texas Revolutionary and died at the Alamo in 1836, earning him a place in American folklore.
People
Billye + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Billye 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
Billye: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Billye?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 905 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Billye 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 378,734 US residents.
Is Billye a common name?
We classify Billye as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,472 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Billye most popular?
The single biggest year for Billye was 1930, when 161 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Billye is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Billye in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,404 people with the name Billye, or 0.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,762 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 Billye 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 Billye?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Billye leans strongly female. 1,336 people counted with this name were female (95.2%), compared with 68 male bearers (4.8%). 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 Billye?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Billye is White at 77.5%. The next largest groups are Black (16.2%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Billye most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Billye in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.5% (1,088 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 Billye in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Billye a female name?
Yes, 96.8% of people registered as Billye 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 Billye still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Billye 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 Billye 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 have Billye as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Billye, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.