Bill
A short English surname that usually began as a nickname for a William-ancestor or, in some cases, came from a place name.
The #6,474 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 58,854 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In the surname tradition, Bill is most often explained as a pet form or nickname of William, used as a hereditary surname for the son or descendant of a man called Bill. The historical sources also suggest that some forms may reflect place-name origins or later shortening of longer surnames, but the William connection is the clearest and best-attested explanation. In other words, the name can be understood as "Bill, son of William," rather than from the common word bill meaning a beak or a bird’s bill.
History
Lower explicitly glossed Bill as a nickname of William, and later surname writers repeated that explanation. The name fits a broader English pattern of surnames formed from short forms of personal names, especially in areas where bynames became hereditary. Because Bill is also a common everyday word, occasional confusion with other surnames or place names is possible, but the personal-name origin remains the standard one.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In some northern English dialect records, surnames could be built in a chain like "William a Bills a Toms," showing how bynames could work almost like miniature family trees.
From the historical record
“the legitimacy of such parentage. BILL. A nickname of William. BILLET. Probably a corruption of the great baronial name Belet. BILLIAKD. Ferguson ranks this name Avith Bill, Bilke, &c. BILLING. BILLINGE. Parishes, &c., in cos. Northampt. and Lancaster (two in each).”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom