Basil is a distinctive choice, ranked #1282 in 2024. Your child is likely to be the only Basil in their class.
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UK Rank 2024
#1282
About the Name Basil
Basil is climbing rapidly up the charts, having climbed 210 places in just five years. Its best recorded rank was #1023 in 2021 — and current momentum suggests it could challenge that mark again. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1996.
Basil is distinctive enough that your child will likely be the only one in both their class and their school — standing out on every register.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Basil
Unlikely. With around 21 UK babies named Basil per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Basil in his class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Basil is currently rising in popularity in the UK, up 210 places over the last five years to #1282 in 2024. If this trend continues, it will become more common in classrooms over the next decade.
Basil is a distinctive choice sitting outside the mainstream UK top names. Parents choosing less common names often find their children appreciate the individuality as they grow up, rarely needing to add an initial to distinguish themselves.
Notable people named Basil include: Basil Sieber — Basil Sieber is a Swiss skeleton racer who competed at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and finished 22nd in the skeleton event.; Toni Basil — Antonia Christina Basilotta, better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director.; Basil Wallace — Basil Wallace is a Jamaican-American actor, playwright, theatre director, and acting teacher..
Basil does not appear in the US top 1,000 baby names, making it a distinctively British choice — your child is unlikely to encounter American Basils in the wild.
21
UK babies named Basil (2024)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.0
In a school of 600
↑ 210 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Basil
Likely around 1 other Basil in the class
UK Popularity (1996–2024)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
No US data available for this name
✨ Similar names to Basil
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Antonia Christina Basilotta, better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. "Mickey", her cover of "Kitty", topped the charts in the US, Canada and Australia and hit the top ten in several other countries.
Basil I, nicknamed "the Macedonian" (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, romanized: Basíleios ō Makedṓn; 811 – 29 August 886), was Byzantine emperor from 867 to 886. Born to a peasant family in the theme of Macedonia, he rose to prominence in the imperial court after gaining the favour of Emperor Michael III, whose mistress he married on his emperor's orders.
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (330 – 1 or 2 January 379), was an early Christian prelate of the who served as Bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed heresies within the early Christian church such as Arianism and Apollinarianism.
Basil II Porphyrogenitus (Greek: Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος, romanized: Basíleios Porphyrogénnētos; 958 – 15 December 1025), given the epithet the Bulgar Slayer, was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but they were too young to rule.
Saint Basil the Younger (died 26 March 944/952) was a Byzantine Greek holy man and visionary. He is the subject of a Greek hagiographical biography, the Vita sancti Basilii iunioris, written by his pupil Gregory.
Basil Zaharoff was a Greek arms dealer and industrialist. One of the richest men in the world during his lifetime, Zaharoff was described as both a "merchant of death" and a "mystery man of Europe".