Vassilios
A masculine Greek name derived from the word "basileus", meaning "king" or "royal".
Name Census estimates that about 22 living Americans carry the first name Vassilios. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vassilios today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vassilios births was 1973 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vassilios. 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 Vassilios with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Vassilios. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
22
~ 1 in 15,579,743 Americans
Peak year
1973
6 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2014 SSA rank
#12,013
Tracked since 1973
Census
Vassilios in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 272 people with the first name Vassilios, which placed it at #31,478 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
#31,478
National first-name rank
People counted
272
272 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
97.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vassilios
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vassilios is White at 97.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (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 Vassilios 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 Vassilios at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.8% · 266
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Vassilios: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vassilios from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 11 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Vassilios remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vassilios 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 Vassilios 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 Vassilios
Vassilios is a Greek name with a rich history dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "basileus," which means "king" or "ruler." The name is a testament to the enduring legacy of Greek culture and language.
The earliest known use of the name Vassilios can be traced back to the Byzantine era, when it was commonly used among the Greek aristocracy and ruling classes. It was a name that carried a sense of prestige and authority, reflecting the person's elevated social status.
One of the most notable historical references to the name Vassilios is found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. He mentions a Vassilios who was a prominent military commander during the Persian Wars in the 5th century BC.
Throughout the centuries, several prominent figures have borne the name Vassilios. One such individual was Vassilios Argyros (c. 1050 - c. 1120), a Byzantine nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the Komnenian dynasty's rise to power.
Another notable Vassilios was Vassilios Kapodistrias (1776-1842), a Greek statesman and diplomat who served as the first head of state of modern Greece after the country's independence from the Ottoman Empire.
In the realm of literature, Vassilios Digenis Akritis (c. 12th century) was a legendary figure celebrated in Byzantine epic poetry. He was a heroic warrior who defended the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontier against invaders.
The name Vassilios has also been carried by influential religious figures, such as Vassilios the Great (c. 330-379), a prominent Church Father and Archbishop of Caesarea, who is celebrated as a saint in several Christian traditions.
While the name Vassilios has its roots in ancient Greek culture, it has endured throughout the centuries and continues to be a popular choice among Greek communities worldwide, reflecting the enduring influence of Greek heritage and tradition.
People
Vassilios + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vassilios as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vassilios: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vassilios?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vassilios 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 15,579,743 US residents.
Is Vassilios a common name?
We classify Vassilios as "Very Rare". It ranks above 41.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 23 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vassilios most popular?
The single biggest year for Vassilios was 1973, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vassilios is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vassilios in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 272 people with the name Vassilios, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,478 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 Vassilios 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 Vassilios?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vassilios appears almost entirely male. Of the 277 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Vassilios?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vassilios is White at 97.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (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 Vassilios most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vassilios in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.8% (266 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 Vassilios in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vassilios a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vassilios 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 Vassilios still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vassilios 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 Vassilios 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 Vassilios as a first name?
Want to know how many people have the name Vassilios? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.