Basil

Greek

"royal"

Basil Origin and Meaning

The name Basil is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "royal".

Although Greek in origin--in the fourth century, a bishop by that name established the principles of the Greek Orthodox Church--Basil for years took on the aura of aquiline-nosed upper-class Britishness of Sherlock Holmes portrayer Basil Rathbone, then spiced with the fragrant aroma of the herb that entered with the Pesto generation.

Now, it's time to take a fresh look at Basil.

Basil was on the U.S. popularity list quite regularly up till 1970, reaching a high of Number 328 in 1904. Its history includes several rulers of the Byzantine Empire and Eastern Orthodox saints, including one whose grandmother, father, older sister and two younger brothers were all saints as well.

Basil has also been seen as a figure of fun, as in the manic Basil Fawlty in the British TV comedy classic "Fawlty Towers," in the Disney movie "Basil of Baker Street," and as Basil Brush and Basil Wombat in other kids' entertainment.

The Russian version, Vassily, is another possibility.

Basil Rank in US Top 1000

# 999 in the US

Basil Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 494 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Basil

• 494 Nameberry 2025
• 837 Unique 2022
• 455 Unisex 2024

20 Names Similar to Basil

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Basil.

• Valentine
• Cosmo
• Florence
• Caspar
• Casper
• Florian
• Robin
• Hawthorn
• Wolfgang
• Pascal
• Rufus
• Peregrine
• Poe
• Clement
• Wilbur
• Merlin
• Virgil
• Lupin
• Ulysses
• Linus

Famous People Named Basil

• Basil Wolverton American cartoonist, illustrator, comic book writer,artist
• Basil Arthur New Zealand politician
• Basil Hetzel Australian medical researcher
• Basil al Assad, son and heir,apparent of the late Syrian President Hafez al,Assad
• Basil Brooke 1st Viscount Brookeborough, politician and third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
• Basil Bunting British modernist poet
• Basil Dearden British film director
• Basil W. Duke Confederate American Civil War general and historian
• Air Chief Marshal Basil Embry British Royal Air Force officer
• Basil Foley son of actor Dave Foley
• Basil Buzz Hargrove Canadian former labour union leader
• B. H. Liddell Hart English soldier, military historian and leading inter,war theorist
• Basil Hiley British quantum physicist
• Basil Hood British librettist and lyricist
• Basil Mott British civil engineer
• Basil O'Connor American lawyer and chairman and president of the American Red Cross
• Basil Charles Godfrey Place British Royal Navy rear,admiral and recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Basil Radford British actor
• Basil Rathbone British actor famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes
• Basil Spence Scottish architect
• Basil Zaharoff Turkish,born arms trader and financier, and chairman of the Vickers munitions company during World War I
• Deveraux Octavian Basil Tyler son of musician Mick Jagger

The name Basil in Pop Culture

• Basil protagonist of Wilkie Collins' 1852 novel "Basil"
• Basil of the "Basil of Baker Street" novels and the movie "The Great Mouse Detective"
• Basil a character in the television series "Fraggle Rock"
• Basil Fawlty the main character in "Fawlty Towers," played by John Cleese
• Basil Brush a glove puppet fox popular on children's television in the UK
• Basil the Bear (Sesame Park) main character of the Canadian children's show "Sesame Park"
• Basil a character in the anime and manga series "Reborn!"
• Basil a character on the Playhouse Disney TV series "Johnny and the Sprites"
• Basil Wombat a character on "SeeMore's Playhouse"
• Basil a character in the breeding and farming game "Harvest Moon"
• Basil Hallward the artist that paints the haunting portrait of Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
• Basil the Bat Lord an enemy racer in Lego Racers (video game)
• Basil Stag Hare member of the Fur and Foot Fighting Patrol in Brian Jacques' "Redwall"
• Basil Hawkins a character in a popular manga "One Piece"
• Basil Exposition a character in the Austin Powers films
• Basil Alex Delarge's snake from the film "A Clockwork Orange"
• Basil Brightberry the gentlemouse sommelier in the children's "Brambly Hedge" series
• Basil Ransom a Mississippi lawyer in Henry James's 1886 novel "The Bostonians"
• Basil a pirate in the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
• Basil character in "The Internment Chronicles" by Lauren DeStefano

International Variations of the name Basil

• Basle Swedish
• Bazyli Slavic
• Bazel Slavic
• Basul Arabic
• Vasili Russian
• Vas Russian
• Vasil Czech
• Vasile Romanian
• Vaslek Russian
• Wassily Russian
• Bale French
• Basilius Swedish
• Bazil Czech
• Vasya Russian
• Vasily Russian
• Basile French
• Vazul Hungarian
• Breasal Irish
• Vassily Russian
• Basek Polish
• Basilio Spanish