Head to head · Boys' names
Arthur vs August
#87 vs #81 in 2025 · both back after a long quiet spell
August is a whisker ahead (#81 vs #87 in 2025) and both are back after a long quiet spell. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Arthur leads 3 measures of 6; August leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Arthur #14, August #82 — Arthur higher
- 1890s: Arthur #14, August #105 — Arthur higher
- 1900s: Arthur #16, August #160 — Arthur higher
- 1910s: Arthur #17, August #182 — Arthur higher
- 1920s: Arthur #20, August #245 — Arthur higher
- 1930s: Arthur #28, August #309 — Arthur higher
- 1940s: Arthur #35, August #400 — Arthur higher
- 1950s: Arthur #57, August #541 — Arthur higher
- 1960s: Arthur #92, August #693 — Arthur higher
- 1970s: Arthur #128, August #812 — Arthur higher
- 1980s: Arthur #165, August #850 — Arthur higher
- 1990s: Arthur #254, August #731 — Arthur higher
- 2000s: Arthur #351, August #602 — Arthur higher
- 2010s: Arthur #293, August #263 — August higher
- 2020s: Arthur #130, August #110 — August higher
Arthur stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; August has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Arthur | August |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #14 | #82 |
| 1890s | #14 | #105 |
| 1900s | #16 | #160 |
| 1910s | #17 | #182 |
| 1920s | #20 | #245 |
| 1930s | #28 | #309 |
| 1940s | #35 | #400 |
| 1950s | #57 | #541 |
| 1960s | #92 | #693 |
| 1970s | #128 | #812 |
| 1980s | #165 | #850 |
| 1990s | #254 | #731 |
| 2000s | #351 | #602 |
| 2010s | #293 | #263 |
| 2020s | #130 | #110 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Arthur
- England & Wales#4
- France#7
- Canada#18
- Scotland#19
August
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Arthur
Not established
The name has no agreed source. A Roman family name, a Celtic word for a bear and an Irish personal name have all been proposed, and none can be shown. For a name this famous, that is a remarkable gap.
Arthur
How it traveled
The literary Arthur was assembled in stages, and each stage added something that now feels original. A Welsh list gives him battles; a twelfth-century Latin history gives him a biography and an empire; Wace, writing in Norman French shortly after, gives him the Round Table; a French poet a generation later gives him Lancelot and the affair.
August
Venerable, majestic, exalted
From Latin augustus, an adjective of dignity connected to augere, 'to increase'. The eighth month takes its name from the same source.
augustus (Latin, 'venerable') → Augustus → August → Augusta
How it traveled
The Roman Senate granted Octavian the title Augustus in 27 BC, and the word — until then an adjective meaning venerable or consecrated — became a name and then an imperial style. Later emperors kept it, medieval clergy inherited it through saints named Augustine and Augustus, and continental Europe trimmed it down: German, Polish, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian all settled on plain August.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Arthur
AR-thur
Two syllables with the weight at the front. French says ar-TUR with the stress at the back; Spanish and Italian give it three as Arturo.
- Art — The standard American short form; used in speech far more than the full name.
- Artie — The affectionate version of the same cut; common in the middle of the twentieth century.
- Arty — The y spelling of the same form, and also an English adjective, which cuts both ways.
August
AW-gust
Stress lands on the first syllable, exactly as in the month. The English adjective 'august' stresses the second (aw-GUST), which occasionally causes a moment's hesitation from readers meeting the name in print. German speakers say ow-GOOST.
- Gus — The most established short form, shared with Augustus and Gustav, and long used as a standalone given name in its own right.
- Auggie — Informal and mostly used with children; common in American families now.
- Augie — The older American spelling of the same nickname, more familiar to earlier generations.
- Gussie — An affectionate older form, used historically for both Augustus and Augusta.
Who has carried each name
Arthur
Arthur Conan Doyle (b. 1859) — Created Sherlock Holmes
Arthur C. Clarke (b. 1917) — Wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey
Arthur Miller (b. 1915) — Death of a Salesman playwright who married Marilyn Monroe
August
August Wilson (b. 1945) — Pulitzer-winning playwright of Fences
August Strindberg (b. 1849) — Father of modern Swedish drama
August Möbius (b. 1790) — The mathematician of the Möbius strip
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Arthur if you want…
- a name that charts abroad tooArthur is on the national lists of England & Wales, France, Canada and Scotland
Choose August if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate August from Arthur.
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Arthur
Strengths
- Everyone can spell it and say it on first hearing, in almost any European language.
- It has a form in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Welsh.
- It carries one of the largest bodies of literature attached to any name.
To consider
- Its origin is genuinely unknown, so any book that gives one confidently is guessing.
- The legend is enormous and unavoidable, which is either the appeal or the burden.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
August
Strengths
- A spelling nobody has to be taught — it appears on every calendar and needs no repeating over the phone.
- Two ready-made short forms with centuries of use behind them: Gus and Auggie.
- The same spelling works in German, Polish, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian, so it travels without adjustment.
To consider
- It is a month, and people will ask whether the baby was born in it. Fine either way, but the question will come up more than once.
- The English word 'august' shifts its stress to the second syllable, so expect the occasional first-time mispronunciation from someone reading it rather than hearing it.
- For a girl, this exact spelling is heavily outnumbered by the boys, so forms and rosters will often assume a boy. Augusta and Augustine are the traditionally feminine relatives if that matters to you.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Arthur
12%chance Arthur feels dated by 2040
Arthur has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
August
30%chance August feels dated by 2040
August is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Arthur and August in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Arthur and August?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- all guides
Every list here names both Arthur and August — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Arthur or August — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Arthur or August?
- August, in 2025: August ranked #81 with 3,958 babies; Arthur ranked #87 with 3,847 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Arthur or August?
- Arthur. Over the last five years Arthur moved up 76 places; August moved up 74 places.
- Which is the older name, Arthur or August?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Arthur and August?
- About 214,000 people named Arthur are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 48,000 people named August are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Arthurs or Augusts in the classroom?
- Arthur will almost certainly be the only one in school. August will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Arthur, August and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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