Bill
- Pronunciation
- [Bill]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Nickname For William - Resolute Protector - Often Used As An Independent Name.
- Origin
- English
About the Name Bill
Bill is the traditional English nickname for William, derived from the Old High German Willahelm, built from wil ("will" or "desire") and helm ("helmet" or "protection"), giving the meaning "resolute protector." The shift from Will to Bill follows an old English pattern of replacing initial W with B in familiar forms — the same mechanism that produced Bob from Rob and Ned from Ed. While Bill carries the full weight of William's Norman-English heritage, it has long functioned as a standalone given name in American culture rather than merely a nickname, carrying a democratic, no-nonsense energy distinctly its own.
Bill first entered the US Social Security top-1000 in 1923 and peaked in 1931 at rank #57, accumulating nearly 99,000 top-1000 births. It last appeared in the top-1000 in 1960. Notable bearers include basketball player Bill Russell (born 1934); soul and R&B singer-songwriter Bill Withers (born 1938), born William Harrison Withers Jr. in Slab Fork, West Virginia; politician Bill Clinton (born 1946), who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001; television host Bill O'Reilly (born 1949); actor and comedian Bill Murray (born 1950), born William James Murray in Wilmette, Illinois; and science communicator Bill Nye (born 1955), born William Sanford Nye.
Bill's enduring cultural presence across entertainment, politics, and public life gives it a name-of-the-century quality hard to match. Recorded variants include Billie and Billy.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Bill
US Popularity History (1923–1960)
Annual US births named Bill by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1947 with 4,681 boys named Bill (boy rank #76 that year).
Where it stands today: in 1960, ranked #95 for boys (4,500 US births). That's 19 places below its 1947 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
Paste the snippet below on any HTML page. Includes a credit link back to 9BabyNames — please keep it intact.
Variant Forms
Famous People Named Bill
12 notable figures from history and culture who share the name Bill.
- Bill Bowerman was an American track and field coach, winner of the Oxford Cup and co-founder of the Nike, Inc.
- Bill Clinton — US President (1946)
- Bill Evans was one of the most famous Jazz pianists of the 20th century who revolutionized Jazz.
- Bill Ford is a prominent American businessman and is the chairman of Ford Motor Company.
- Bill Hicks — Comedian (1961)
- Bill Maher — TV Show Host (1956)
- Bill Monroe was a musical pioneer famous as the ‘father of Bluegrass music’. He invented a whole new genre of music single-handedly.
- Bill Murray — Movie Actor (1950)
- Bill Nye — TV Show Host (1955)
- Bill O'Reilly — TV Show Host (1949)
- Bill Paxton — Movie Actor (1955)
- Bill Russell — Basketball Player (1934)
Looking for names like Bill?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Bill to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Bill against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
Bill Baby Name Ideas
- When a Nickname Starts With a Different Letter From the Legal Name: Plan for Initials, Forms, and Daily Use
- How to Honor a Relative Who Was Known by a Nickname, Middle Name, or Chosen Name
- When the Nickname Rhymes With the Last Name: Test the Call Form, Not Just the Legal Name
- What Is Millie Short For? Ten Full-Name Routes and a Clear Nickname Map
- When a Baby Name Has Different Nicknames Across Languages: Building One Flexible Family Plan
- Should Sibling Names Have Similar Nickname Range? Balancing Full Forms and Everyday Call Names
- How to Reuse a Repeated Family First Name Without Creating Another Namesake Mix-Up
- When Two Family Members Already Share the Nickname You Want for the Baby
- When You Love a Baby Name but Dislike Its Usual Nickname: Planning for the Full Name in Real Life
- Three-Syllable Baby Names: Amphibrach, Dactyl, and the Rhythm of a Complete Name
- Royalcore Baby Names: Real Kings, Queens & Dynasties
- Names That Age Well: From the Nursery to the Boardroom
- Hindu Mythology Baby Names: Gods, Goddesses & Epic Heroes
- Western & Cowgirl Baby Names: The Yellowstone and Cowboy Carter Revival
- Twilight-Inspired Baby Names: The Cullens Were Ahead of the Antique Revival
- Girl Names With Cute Nicknames: How a Long Formal Name Earns a Lifetime of Sweet Short Forms
- 21 Charming Irish Baby Names and Their Enchanting Meanings
- The Best Short Boy Names: Simple, Strong, and Timeless
- Baby Name Trends to Watch for in 2025
- Adventurous and Bold: The Ultimate Guide to Sagittarius Baby Names