Bill Paxton
There are approximately 3 people named Bill Paxton living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 114,251,446 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Bill with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Paxton. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
3
1 in 114,251,446
Named Bill
76K
Alive today
Named Paxton
14K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 76K
Rarity: Uncommon
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1947
Average age: 70
Estimated bearers: 14K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #3,049
Per 100K: 3.98
Top ancestry: White (86.2%)
First name trend
Bill: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Bill. The peak year was 1947 with 4,688 births. The average person named Bill today is 70 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Paxton surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Paxton, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 86.2%.
- White86.2%
- Black or African American8.1%
- Hispanic or Latino2.3%
- Two or more races2.1%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Bill has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0222% of the US population, based on 76,202 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Paxton appears at a rate of 3.98 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0040%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 3 people with the full name Bill Paxton. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Bill
FAQ
Bill Paxton: questions and answers
How many people are named Bill Paxton?
We estimate approximately 3 people in the United States share the full name Bill Paxton. That works out to about 1 in 114,251,446 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0222%) with the surname frequency (3.98 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Bill Paxton?
We classify Bill Paxton as "Very Rare". About 1 in 114,251,446 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Bill a male or female name?
Bill is predominantly male. Out of 161,173 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full Bill profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.