Bill

Where Bill comes from

Hypocorism of William. It is unclear how the initial W became a B; this could have been part of the medieval trend of swapping letters, similar to Dick for Rick.
— Wiktionary's entry for Bill
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #220 among boys — 53 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1931
    Peak, #57
    3,218 babies named Bill — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1937
    Bill Cosby born
    American actor and comedian
  4. 1946
    Bill Clinton born
    42nd President of the United States
  5. 1952
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #168.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the male given name William.
  • A diminutive of the male given name Bilal.
Namesakes
  • Bill Clinton · 42nd President of the United States, born 1946
  • Bill Cosby · American actor and comedian, born 1937
  • Bill Shankly · Scottish footballer and manager, 1913–1981
  • Bill Irwin · American actor, clown, and comedian, born 1950
  • Bill de Blasio · 109th Mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2022, born 1961

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.