Bishop

Bishop: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “overseer”
Origin: Greek
Say it: BISH-up · 2 syllables
Used for: Boys (98% of all uses)

Bishop comes from an ecclesiastical title, via Old English from Greek episkopos 'overseer.' As a first name it is transferred from the church title and surname.

English names Names meaning faith Surname-style names

How popular is Bishop?

202454.0 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Bishop in 2024181

2024 rank#1,192 boys

Peak year2021

Total US babies since 18806,908

Bishop has been fairly stable over the last fifteen years.

Names like Bishop

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Theodoregift of God · Greek
Sebastianfrom Sebaste · Greek
Alexanderdefender of men · Greek
Lukefrom Lucania · Greek
Christopherbearer of Christ · Greek
Angelmessenger · Greek
Andrewmanly, brave · Greek
Theogod · Greek

Bishop questions

What does the name Bishop mean?

Bishop means "overseer". It comes from Greek. Bishop comes from an ecclesiastical title, via Old English from Greek episkopos 'overseer.' As a first name it is transferred from the church title and surname.

Is Bishop a boy or girl name?

Bishop is mainly a boy's name in US records (99% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Bishop?

181 US babies were named Bishop in 2024. Its peak year was 2021.

How do you pronounce Bishop?

Bishop is usually pronounced BISH-up.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.