Before the 18th and 19th centuries, goats were simply referred to as "he-goats" or "she-goats". The shift to more familiar names came later:
Goats have been symbols of power and resilience for millennia, appearing in some of history's most enduring stories:
Popularized in the 19th century, "Billy" is a diminutive of William. Interestingly, some folklore suggests the name might have originally been paired with "Annie goat," which eventually slurred into the modern "nanny goat".