How Billie Eilish Got Her Unique Middle Name, Pirate
Billie Eilish has become one of Gen Z’s leading artists in recent years, with several Grammy Awards and hit singles to her name and a sound unlike any other artist’s. It goes without saying that Eilish is truly one-of-a-kind, from her music to her very own name.
Billie Eilish has been making music for much of entire life
Music has been in Eilish’s blood her entire life. Both her parents were musicians, and Eilish first picked up the ukelele at age 6. She began writing her own songs and realized that it was a path that she wanted to pursue seriously.
In 2015, Eilish released her debut single “Ocean Eyes” when she was just 13 years old. She released more songs throughout the late 2010s, and released her debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? in 2019. The album spawned the No. 1 hit single “Bad Guy” and earned her five Grammy Awards.
In 2021, Eilish released her highly-anticipated sophomore album Happier Than Ever. The project was notably lighter in tone, and saw Eilish be more vulnerable with her emotions.
She got her middle name from her family
Since her debut, Eilish has worked with her brother Finneas, who produces all of her songs. But Finneas’ hand in Eilish’ life is much bigger than just music — he even almost had a hand in naming her as a baby.
In 2021, ahead of Happier Than Ever‘s release, Eilish released her first-ever audiobook, Billie Eilish: In Her Own Words. In it, the singer reflected on the years that led up to her explosion, including before she even started making music.
Eilish even revealed that she almost went by a completely different name: Pirate. Finneas, who was four years old at the time, was in love with pirates, and soon the whole family began referring to Eilish, still in her mother’s womb, as “pirate.”
“They called me ‘pirate’ for months, and they were kind of planning on naming me Pirate,” Eilish said. “And soon before I was born, my grandfather died, and his name was William, a.k.a. Bill, Billie. And that’s where my name came from.”
Eilish’s full name is Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell. Eilish is an Irish name that means “pledged to God”; Baird is her mother’s last name, and O’Connell is her father’s.
When asked in an interview with BBC about the Pirate name, she acknowledged that it was an unconventional choice. “Pretty weird, right?” she said. “Pirate was going to be my middle name but then my uncle had a problem with it because pirates are bad.”
Billie Eilish has mixed feelings about her young fame
After the release of “Ocean Eyes,” all eyes were on Eilish, a young new talent at the time. In a 2021 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Eilish confessed that it being famous at such a young age was hard on her; she was only 16 years old when she went on tour in support of her four-times platinum album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
“I hated going outside. I hated going to events. I hated being recognized. I hated the internet having a bunch of eyes on me. I just wanted to be doing teenager s***,” she said honestly.
