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Bill Family History

Bill Surname Meaning

English: from the Middle English personal name Bille or Bile either a pet form of the female names Amabil and Sybil or a survival of Old English Bil or Old Norse Bildr. English: nickname from Middle English (Old English) bile ‘bill beak (of a bird)’ perhaps used contemptuously of a person's nose or mouth.

It may also be an occupational name from Middle English (Old English) bil(l) ‘bill(hook) pruning hook halberd’ given perhaps to a user or maker of pruning hooks and similar implements. See Biller 5.

English: topographic name for someone who lived on or by a promontory or headland from Middle English bile bille ‘beak’ (from Old English bile).

German: from an ancient Germanic personal name either a short form of compound names such as Billard.

Native American (e.g. Navajo): adoption of the English personal name Bill (altered short form of William) as a surname.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Bill family from?

You can see how Bill families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Bill family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Bill families were found in USA in 1920. In 1891 there were 342 Bill families living in Staffordshire. This was about 23% of all the recorded Bill's in United Kingdom. Staffordshire had the highest population of Bill families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Bill surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
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What did your Bill ancestors do for a living?

In 1939, General Labourer and Unpaid Domestic Duties were the top reported jobs for men and women in the United Kingdom named Bill. 12% of Bill men worked as a General Labourer and 70% of Bill women worked as an Unpaid Domestic Duties. Some less common occupations for Americans named Bill were Iron Moulder and Unpaid Domestic Dutie.

View Census Data for Bill | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1939

  • General Labourer
    12%
  • Bricklayer
    10%
  • Farm Labourer
    5%
  • Iron Moulder
    5%

Top Female Occupations In 1939

  • Unpaid Domestic Duties
    70%
  • Private Means
    4%
  • Incapacitated
    3%
  • Unpaid Domestic Dutie
    3%

What Bill family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 81,000 census records available for the last name Bill. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Bill census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search UK census records for Bill

Passenger Lists

There are 8,000 immigration records available for the last name Bill. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Bill immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 54,000 military records available for the last name Bill. For the veterans among your Bill ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Bill military records

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