How rare is the name Basil?

7,831 people in the United States have the first name Basil, about 1 in 38,569. It ranks #2,909 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

BASIL

#2,909

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
7,831
About
1 in 38,569
This common or more
81.2%
Who bears it

Of the 7,831 people named Basil, 61.9% reported their origin as White, 23.4% as Black and 5.9% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 96.3% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Basil peaked in 1924, when 281 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1924
Births that year
281
In 2025*
97 ▼65%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 13,538 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Basil by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1910s, when it ranked #784. The largest share of babies named Basil, 29.9%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#1,131124
1890s#959244
1900s#975334
1910s#7841,726
1920s#8012,456
1930s#9151,705
1940s#1,2171,293
1950s#1,6071,090
1960s#1,945873
1970s#2,707577
1980s#3,126572
1990s#3,551661
2000s#5,010556
2010s#4,304742
2020s#3,614585
Before 19013%
Greatest Generation 1901–2729.9%
Silent Generation 1928–4521.6%
Baby boom 1946–6415.5%
Generation X 1965–807.4%
Millennials 1981–967.4%
Generation Z 1997–126.7%
2013 and later8.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Basil is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Basil has been most common in West Virginia (11×), Maine (5.1×), and Pennsylvania (2.1×), and least common in Florida (0.29×).

7,328 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Basil

#2,907 Priyanka · 7,849#2,908 Saige · 7,835#2,910 Johnpaul · 7,819#2,911 Anjali · 7,815

Spelled almost the same

4 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Basil, most common first.

#13,386 Basel · 904#35,436 Basile · 227#36,633 Bazil · 216#45,502 Bassil · 149

Also a last name

As a last name, Basil ranks #14,592 of 156,621, with 1,960 people. See Basil as a last name

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