Billy

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 11 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Billy is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name180K records spelled Billy18 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Peru, Philippines

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Bïlly, Biĺly, Bîllý, Bíllý, Bilľy

• Indonesian given name23K records spelled Billy4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Philippines, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Billy, Bïlly

• Polish given name14K records spelled Billy28 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Russian

  Also written Били, Billý, Bili, Bílly, Bíllý

• Greek given name8.9K records spelled Billy4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Μπίλλυ, Bíllÿ, Μπιλλυ

75 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Billy is also recorded in 4 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In French, voir De Billy

  as a name·Dictionnaire des noms de famille du Canada français. Anthroponymie et généalogie. 2e édition

• In Swedish, Billy är ursprungligen en engelsk smekform till → William.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In German, männl. Vom., engHsche Koseform von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In Swedish, a male given name borrowed from English

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 145 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Billy Wilderb. 1906USAustrian and American filmmaker (1906–2002)
• Billy Wrightb. 1924GBEnglish footballer (1924-1994)
• Billy Williamsb. 1929GBBritish cinematographer
• Billy Goldenbergb. 1936USAmerican composer and songwriter (1936-2020)
• Billy Connollyb. 1942GBScottish actor and comedian
• Billy Crystalb. 1948USAmerican actor, comedian, writer, producer, director and television presenter (born 1948)
• Billy Zaneb. 1966USAmerican actor (born 1966)
• Billy Burkeb. 1966USAmerican actor, musician
• Billy Boydb. 1968GBScottish actor and musician
• Billy Porterb. 1969USAmerican singer and actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,071 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Billy?

We estimate roughly 180 thousand people bear Billy (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Billy have the most bearers?

We estimate about 171 thousand people bear Billy in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled billy.

How common is Billy compared with other names?

In the United States, Billy is the 249th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Billy a male or female name?

Billy is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Billy mean?

Recorded meaning: A fellow, companion, comrade, mate; partner, brother.