Basil
From the Greek for "royal, kingly". In Poland it stays genuinely uncommon: about 65 men carry it, and boys simply aren't given it anymore.
Basil Pronunciation
Basil is pronounced BAH-sheel (/ˈbaɕil/).
What Basil means
Where Basil comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Basil comes from the Greek basileus, the word for king. It reached England early through the Church, carried by Saint Basil the Great, the fourth-century bishop of Caesarea whose monastic rule still guides Eastern Christians. English speakers took the name as their own. Its meaning is simple. Royal, kingly.
The Greeks used that same root for a plant. Their basilikon, the royal herb, is the ancestor of the basil that flavours food today. A boy and a leaf, both crowned by one old word. The link is real, not folklore.
In English the name found its bearers on screen. Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes across fourteen films between 1939 and 1946. Basil Fawlty, the fictional hotelier, later gave it a comic edge. The origin holds under both those men: royal, kingly.
How many people are named Basil
1 in 328403 men in Poland is named Basil. 65 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #4505 among male names.
Basil as a middle name
Basil is a first name for 65 men in Poland and a middle name for another 17, a 79/21 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 2192nd, between Ashokkumar (17) and Bastiaan (17).
-
#2190 Asaf17
-
#2191 Ashokkumar17
-
#2192 Basil17
-
#2193 Bastiaan17
-
#2194 Bertil17