Billie
Torn between Billie and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
diminutive of Bill, also used as a feminine form of William ("will helmet")
Famously borne by Billie Jean King.
The story
Billie softens William's old Germanic elements, will and helmet, into something jazzier, and American parents made it a name in its own right early on: its first strong era came in the decades before the Second World War. That era's crowning bearer was Billie Holiday, Lady Day herself, whose aching, behind-the-beat phrasing made her one of the defining voices of jazz and gave the name a permanent seat in American music. The name then faded for decades, until a whispering teenager from Los Angeles picked it back up: Billie Eilish, who in 2020 became the youngest artist ever to sweep the four major Grammy categories in a single night. The records show Billie climbing again in recent years, and while no one can prove she is the reason, the timing could hardly be neater. A century apart, two Billies, one very durable name.
The formal names behind Billie
Billie is an established short form of this name.
Wilhelmina · Germanic origin · Dutch and German feminine form of Wilhelm ("will helmet")
Billie across languages
One shared root links 12 names across 3 languages.
Shared root: from Germanic Willahelm, wil "will, desire" + helm "helmet, protection"
The constellation
9 more branches of this family
Billie in song
Ode to Billie Joe
Bobbie Gentry (1967)
A Mississippi family passes the black-eyed peas and talks about the news of the day, and sixty years on nobody agrees about what got thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge. Bobbie Gentry always said the point was the family's indifference, not the answer.
Billie Jean
Michael Jackson (1983)
The bassline, the paternity denial, and the Motown 25 broadcast where Jackson first moonwalked on television. From Thriller.
How popular is Billie around the world?
In the United States, 1,991 babies were named Billie between 2020 and 2025. In New Zealand, 82 girls named Billie were registered in 2025.
Billie is on the official records of the United States, New Zealand, South Australia, New South Wales, Scotland, France, Canada, England and Wales, Ireland and Austria.
United States
1 in 11,000
In the United States, 1,991 babies were named Billie between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Billie peaked in the 1920s and the 1930s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
1 in 700
In New Zealand, 82 girls named Billie were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
1 in 8002017
In South Australia, 23 girls were registered as Billie in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
New South Wales
#35 · 2025
In New South Wales, 162 girls named Billie were registered in 2025, ranked 35th in that year’s top 100 for girls.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Scotland
1 in 1,300
In Scotland, 34 girls named Billie were registered in 2024, the 131st most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
France
1 in 1,400
In France, about 455 girls named Billie were born in 2025, the 114th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Canada
1 in 1,400
In Canada, 258 girls named Billie were born in 2024, the 93rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 1,700
In England and Wales, 331 girls named Billie were born in 2025, the 151st most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 2,300
In Ireland, 24 girls named Billie were born in 2025, the 186th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Austria
1 in 19,000
In Austria, 3 girls named Billie were born in 2025, ranked 1,026th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
In Austria, 1 boy named Billie was born in 2025, ranked 1,842nd among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Billie
People given the name Billie in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1940 to 1989. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names of music legends · Names of sports stars · Gender-neutral names
The Billie deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Billie truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Billie fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Billie fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Billie to your family’s tree →