Bishoy
An Egyptian Coptic name meaning "praised" or "good tidings".
Name Census estimates that about 105 living Americans carry the first name Bishoy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bishoy today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bishoy births was 2009 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bishoy. 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.
People living today
105
~ 1 in 3,264,327 Americans
Peak year
2009
11 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,603
Tracked since 1989
Census
Bishoy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 525 people with the first name Bishoy, which placed it at #19,901 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
#19,901
National first-name rank
People counted
525
525 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
96.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bishoy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bishoy is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (0.4%). 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 Bishoy 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 Bishoy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.4% · 506
- Two or more races2.9% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Bishoy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bishoy from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 58 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bishoy 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 Bishoy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bishoy
The given name Bishoy has its origins in the Coptic language, which is an Afro-Asiatic language that was the spoken and written language of ancient Egypt. It is derived from the Coptic word "pishai," which means "anointed one" or "the consecrated."
The name Bishoy is closely associated with the Coptic Orthodox Church and is believed to have been first used around the 4th century AD. It is believed to have been popularized by Saint Pishoy, a famous Coptic Christian monk who lived in the 4th century and is known for his ascetic lifestyle and miracles.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Bishoy can be found in the Coptic manuscript "The Life of St. Pishoy," which dates back to the 5th century AD. This manuscript provides detailed accounts of the life and miracles of St. Pishoy, who is revered as a saint in the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bishoy. One of the most famous was Bishoy, a Coptic Orthodox bishop of Damietta, Egypt, who lived in the 13th century and played a significant role in the defense of the city against the Crusaders.
Another prominent figure was Bishoy, a Coptic Orthodox monk and writer who lived in the 6th century AD and authored several theological works, including a commentary on the Book of Job.
In the 9th century, there was a Coptic Orthodox bishop named Bishoy who served as the Bishop of Akmim, a city in Upper Egypt. He was known for his piety and contributions to the church.
In the 12th century, a Coptic Orthodox monk named Bishoy lived in the Monastery of St. Antony in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. He was renowned for his spiritual wisdom and teachings, which were widely circulated among the Coptic monastic communities.
Bishoy was also the name of a Coptic Orthodox bishop of Akhmim in the 14th century, who played a significant role in the preservation and promotion of Coptic literature and culture during a time of political turmoil in Egypt.
People
Bishoy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bishoy 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
Bishoy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bishoy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 105 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bishoy 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 3,264,327 US residents.
Is Bishoy a common name?
We classify Bishoy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bishoy most popular?
The single biggest year for Bishoy was 2009, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bishoy is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bishoy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 525 people with the name Bishoy, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,901 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 Bishoy 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 Bishoy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bishoy appears almost entirely male. Of the 524 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Bishoy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bishoy is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (0.4%). 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 Bishoy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bishoy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (506 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 Bishoy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bishoy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bishoy 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 Bishoy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bishoy 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 Bishoy 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 Americans are named Bishoy?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.