Alcide
Masculine · “descendant of Alcaeus”
Hercules was not called Hercules. His birth name in the Greek tradition was Alcides — grandson of Alcaeus — and he acquired the name everybody knows later, from the goddess who spent the entire story trying to kill him. It is one of the odder pieces of naming in Greek myth: a hero named in honor of his own persecutor.
How old is the name Alcide?
Alcide was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Alcide alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. About 200 people named Alcide are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alcide most popular?
Alcide peaked in 1886, reaching #694 nationally. See the whole 1886 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From a Greek root meaning strength gives Alcaeus and Alcides to Alcide
The story of Alcide
The renaming is usually explained as an attempt to appease. Hera hated him because of who his father was and pursued him from infancy; the name he was given as an adult means glory of Hera, and the ancient sources say it was chosen either by an oracle or by the family in the hope of buying her off. It did not work. The twelve labors were her doing, more or less, and the story ends badly. But the name stuck so completely that the original is now a piece of trivia.
Meaning
descendant of Alcaeus, and so of strength
The Greek root behind it means strength or might, and the name is patronymic in form. The French and Italian Alcide comes straight from that. It reached America chiefly through French Canada and Louisiana, where it was a common man's name for a century, and it has almost entirely gone from both.
How the name formed
- a Greek root meaning strength gives Alcaeus and Alcides
- the hero is renamed after the goddess persecuting him
- French and Italian keep Alcide as an ordinary name
- carried to French Canada and Louisiana
- appears in American records before 1880
Related forms: Alcide · Alcide · Alkides
Pronouncing Alcide
al-SEED
Two syllables with the stress at the back in French. Italians give it three, al-CHEE-deh, and English readers usually produce AL-side, which is neither.
Nicknames for Alcide
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 192439 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #694reached in 1886
- Change vs 2018
- +16.7%7 in 2020, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Alcide in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Alcide in French — same name
- Alcide in Italian — same name
- Alkides in Greek — related form
Alcides among us
people named Alcide are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Alcide sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, distinctive and carries a very large piece of mythology.
- Al is available and needs no explanation anywhere.
- It marks a French Canadian or Louisiana family history clearly.
- The English reading of the spelling is different from both continental ones.
- It has been out of American use for three generations.
- The mythological association is enormous and may be more than a child wants.
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Alcide
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Alcides are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Alcide are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Alcide in 2025?
- Alcide is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Alcide with classmates?
- Alcide will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anthony#46 · Andrew#73 · Alexander#30 · Aaron#80 · Adam#101 · Arthur#87 · Albert#614 · Austin#113
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alcide? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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