Vasily
A masculine name of Russian origin meaning "royal" or "kingly".
Name Census estimates that about 112 living Americans carry the first name Vasily. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vasily today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vasily births was 2018 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vasily. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
112
~ 1 in 3,060,307 Americans
Peak year
2018
14 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2023 SSA rank
#14,036
Tracked since 1978
Census
Vasily in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 788 people with the first name Vasily, which placed it at #14,825 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,825
National first-name rank
People counted
788
788 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vasily
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vasily is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Vasily described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Vasily at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.7% · 738
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 12
- Two or more races1.4% · 11
- Black or African American1.1% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Popularity
Vasily: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vasily from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 61 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vasily by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Vasily during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vasily
The name Vasily has its origins in the Greek language and translates to "kingly" or "royal." It is derived from the ancient Greek word "basileus," which means "king." The name gained widespread popularity during the Byzantine era when it was commonly used among the Eastern Orthodox Christian community.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vasily can be found in the hagiography of Saint Basil the Great, a 4th-century bishop and theologian who was a prominent figure in the early Christian church. His Greek name, Basileios, was later transliterated into the Slavic form Vasily, and he became widely venerated in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.
Throughout history, the name Vasily has been borne by several notable individuals, including:
1. Vasily I (1389-1425), the Grand Prince of Moscow, who played a crucial role in consolidating the power of the Muscovite state and laying the foundations for the future Russian Empire.
2. Vasily II (1415-1462), also known as Vasily the Blind, was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1425 to 1462. His reign was marked by internal conflicts and struggles for power within the Rurik dynasty.
3. Vasily III (1479-1533), the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533, is credited with significantly expanding the territories of the Muscovite state through military campaigns and diplomatic maneuvers.
4. Vasily Shuysky (1552-1612), a Russian nobleman and the Tsar of Russia from 1606 to 1610, during the tumultuous period known as the Time of Troubles.
5. Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944), a renowned Russian painter and art theorist, is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of abstract art and a key figure in the development of modern art movements.
The name Vasily has also been referenced in various literary works and historical records throughout the centuries, further solidifying its cultural significance and enduring legacy. Its associations with royalty, leadership, and the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition have contributed to its enduring popularity across various regions and cultures.
People
Vasily + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vasily as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vasily: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vasily?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 112 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vasily going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,060,307 US residents.
Is Vasily a common name?
We classify Vasily as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 113 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vasily most popular?
The single biggest year for Vasily was 2018, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vasily is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vasily in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 788 people with the name Vasily, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,825 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Vasily in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Vasily?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vasily appears almost entirely male. Of the 785 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Vasily?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vasily is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Vasily most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vasily in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.7% (738 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Vasily in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vasily a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vasily in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Vasily still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vasily in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Vasily can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Vasily?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.