How Many People Are Named Bill?
An estimated 76,202 people in the United States have the first name Bill. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 70 years old, and Bill peaked in popularity in 1947 with 4,688 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Bill as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Bill paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Bill is overwhelmingly male, 716 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- With an average bearer age of 70, Bill is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1966.
- Bill has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1940s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
76,202
About 1 in 4,498 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.6% confidence
Average Age
70
years old
Peak Year
1947
4,688 births
Total Registered
161,173
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Bill
Bill is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 161,173 total births registered, 99.6% were male.
Bill as a male name
Ranked #4,572 in 2024
22 male births in 2024
Peak: 1947 (4,681 births)
Bill as a female name
Ranked #11,087 in 1986
5 female births in 1986
Peak: 1932 (34 births)
Bill: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Bill span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1940s, when 37,848 babies were registered. Bill has declined significantly from its peak in the 1940s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Bill by Decade
How has Bill tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 600 | 600 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 789 | 789 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 1,523 | 1,513 | 10 | |
| 1910s | 6,711 | 6,599 | 112 | |
| 1920s | 22,496 | 22,289 | 207 | |
| 1930s | 32,523 | 32,336 | 187 | |
| 1940s | 37,848 | 37,756 | 92 | |
| 1950s | 23,910 | 23,878 | 32 | |
| 1960s | 25,186 | 25,134 | 52 | |
| 1970s | 5,224 | 5,205 | 19 | |
| 1980s | 1,820 | 1,815 | 5 | |
| 1990s | 1,153 | 1,153 | 0 | |
| 2000s | 845 | 845 | 0 | |
| 2010s | 423 | 423 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 122 | 122 | 0 | |
Bill by State
Birth registrations for Bill span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, Illinois. The lowest are in Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island. On average, about 3,026 Bills were registered per state.
Bill + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Bill as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Bill
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
Bill: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bill?
We estimate approximately 76,202 people named Bill are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 4,498 Americans share this first name.
Is Bill a common name?
Bill is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 161,173 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Bill most popular?
Bill reached peak popularity in 1947, when 4,688 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Bill is approximately 70 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Bill a male name?
Bill is predominantly male. 99.6% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Bill Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Bill Smith, Bill Johnson, Bill Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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