Basil
24% girls · 76% boys
About Basil
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.
Basil for boys#2022 US
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 for girls#5432 US
This ancient Greek male name, well-used in Britain, also has an herbal quality that may explain its increasing use for girls. While as a name it rhymes with dazzle, the herb has a long a, making the pronunciation BAY-zel.
Pronounced BAZ-ul.
As of October 2026, Basil ranked #2022 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #322 in 1897, Nameberry popularity #660.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · boys | Births · boys | US rank · girls | Births · girls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #2,712 | 44 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #2,429 | 52 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #2,234 | 60 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #2,244 | 59 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #2,066 | 69 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #2,047 | 71 | #4,787 | 28 |
| 2020 | #2,324 | 58 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #2,001 | 74 | #4,631 | 29 |
| 2022 | #1,828 | 88 | #4,811 | 28 |
| 2023 | #2,030 | 74 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #2,009 | 76 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #2,022 | 74 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Basil for boys
Similar names
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Basil on lists
Famous Basils
- Basil WolvertonBoy
American cartoonist, illustrator, comic book writer,artist
- Basil ArthurBoy
New Zealand politician
- Basil HetzelBoy
Australian medical researcher
- Basil alBoy
Assad, son and heir,apparent of the late Syrian President Hafez al,Assad
- Basil BrookeBoy
1st Viscount Brookeborough, politician and third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland
- Basil BuntingBoy
British modernist poet
- Basil DeardenBoy
British film director
- Basil W. DukeBoy
Confederate American Civil War general and historian
- Air Chief Marshal Basil EmbryBoy
British Royal Air Force officer
- Basil FoleyBoy
son of actor Dave Foley
- Basil Buzz HargroveBoy
Canadian former labour union leader
- B. H. Liddell HartBoy
English soldier, military historian and leading inter,war theorist
- Basil HileyBoy
British quantum physicist
- Basil HoodBoy
British librettist and lyricist
- Basil MottBoy
British civil engineer
- Basil O'ConnorBoy
American lawyer and chairman and president of the American Red Cross
- Basil Charles Godfrey PlaceBoy
British Royal Navy rear,admiral and recipient of the Victoria Cross
- Basil RadfordBoy
British actor
- Basil RathboneBoy
British actor famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes
- Basil SpenceBoy
Scottish architect
- Basil ZaharoffBoy
Turkish,born arms trader and financier, and chairman of the Vickers munitions company during World War I
- Deveraux Octavian Basil TylerBoy
son of musician Mick Jagger
Basil in pop culture
- BasilBoy
protagonist of Wilkie Collins' 1852 novel "Basil"
- BasilBoy
of the "Basil of Baker Street" novels and the movie "The Great Mouse Detective"
- BasilBoy
a character in the television series "Fraggle Rock"
- Basil FawltyBoy
the main character in "Fawlty Towers," played by John Cleese
- Basil BrushBoy
a glove puppet fox popular on children's television in the UK
- Basil the Bear (Sesame Park)Boy
main character of the Canadian children's show "Sesame Park"
- BasilBoy
a character in the anime and manga series "Reborn!"
- BasilBoy
a character on the Playhouse Disney TV series "Johnny and the Sprites"
- Basil WombatBoy
a character on "SeeMore's Playhouse"
- BasilBoy
a character in the breeding and farming game "Harvest Moon"
- Basil HallwardBoy
the artist that paints the haunting portrait of Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
- Basil the Bat LordBoy
an enemy racer in Lego Racers (video game)
- Basil Stag HareBoy
member of the Fur and Foot Fighting Patrol in Brian Jacques' "Redwall"
- Basil HawkinsBoy
a character in a popular manga "One Piece"
- Basil ExpositionBoy
a character in the Austin Powers films
- BasilBoy
Alex Delarge's snake from the film "A Clockwork Orange"
- Basil BrightberryBoy
the gentlemouse sommelier in the children's "Brambly Hedge" series
- Basil RansomBoy
a Mississippi lawyer in Henry James's 1886 novel "The Bostonians"
- BasilBoy
a pirate in the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
- BasilBoy
character in "The Internment Chronicles" by Lauren DeStefano