Basil 1

"Bazzle" is the traditional English pronunciation. The traditional Greek name is Basilios. If you meet any man in America from a Greek family named Bill, you can bet that his birth name is Basil or Basilios. Greeks pronounce B (beta) more like a really soft v. My son is Basil. I call him Baz.

Basil, as in the plant, can either be pronounced bay-zill or bazzle, but the name Basil is almost always pronounced bazzle. An exception seems to be the German guitarist Basil Wahn, who pronounces his name bay-zill.

In the United States, Basil is generally pronounced BAY-zul.

I disagree with the previous poster. This name is generally and correctly pronounced as BAZ-ul. Bay-zul is used when referring to the herb.

Basil CAN be pronounced Bay-zul, this is the way my grandfather pronounces his name.