Ambrose
Masculine · “Immortal”
Ambrose is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 10,868 boys against 43 girls since 1880.
Ambrose comes from the Greek word for the food of the gods — the stuff that kept them from dying. It has been worn by an English-speaking world for centuries and by a Latin-speaking one before that, and it still moves the way it always did: a firm first syllable, then a long soft glide out. Familiar enough to read at a glance, uncommon enough that most people have never met one.
How old is the name Ambrose?
Ambrose was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Ambrose alive today was born around 1954, making them about 71 years old. About 5,600 people named Ambrose are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ambrose most popular?
Ambrose peaked in 1881, reaching #233 nationally. Today it ranks #735, 502 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Ambrose appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Ambrosios to Ambrose
The story of Ambrose
The Greek adjective ambrosios became the Latin name Ambrosius, and that name was carried into history by Ambrose of Milan, the fourth-century bishop who baptized Augustine and became one of the four original Doctors of the Latin Church. From Latin it settled into English as Ambrose, into Italian as Ambrogio, into French as Ambroise, into Spanish as Ambrosio. In Wales the same Latin name took a different road entirely and came out as Emrys. The English form has been in continuous use since the medieval period and has never entirely left it.
Meaning
Immortal
From Greek ambrosios, 'immortal, divine' — the same root as ambrosia, the food of the gods in Greek myth that conferred immortality.
How the name formed
- Ambrosios
- Ambrosius
- Ambrose
Related forms: Ambrogio · Ambroise · Ambrosio · Emrys · Ambroży · Amvrosiy
Pronouncing Ambrose
AM-brohz
Stress on the first syllable, and the ending rhymes with 'rose'. The French Ambroise (am-BRWAHZ) and Italian Ambrogio (am-BRO-joh) shift both the stress and the sound.
Nicknames for Ambrose
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
- 2022365 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #233reached in 1881
- Change vs 2022
- −1.9%358 in 2025, from 365
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.
Ambrose in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ambrogio in Italian — same name
- Ambroise in French — same name
- Ambrosio in Spanish — same name
- Emrys in Welsh — related form
- Ambroży in Polish — same name
- Amvrosiy in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Ohio.
Ambroses among us
people named Ambrose are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 4,771 born in 2025 was named Ambrose
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Ambrose sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Ambrose is headed
Ambrose looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 18% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Ambrose beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ambrose in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An unbroken record from ancient Greek through Latin into English, with a place in Church history since the fourth century.
- The spelling is phonetic and the word ambrosia is widely known, so people generally read it right the first time.
- Sister forms exist in Italian, Spanish, French, Polish and Welsh, which travels well across families and languages.
- Still strongly represented among older generations while turning up again among the newly born — recognized, not dated.
- It ends in the sound 'rose', and some people will hear a feminine echo there or ask twice. It has been a boy's name for its whole documented history, but expect the occasional double-take.
- Short forms exist but none is firmly established, so in practice the full three syllables will be used most of the time. That suits some families and not others.
- Almost every Ambrose is the only one anyone has met, which means the name gets remarked on. Pleasant for many children, tiring for a few.
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What they receive
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Ambrose
Masculine · #735 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ambroses are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,600 people named Ambrose are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ambrose in 2025?
- Ambrose ranks #735 among US boy names in 2025, with 358 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ambrose?
- About 1 in every 4,771 US boys born in 2025 was named Ambrose — 358 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ambrose with classmates?
- Ambrose will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ambrose
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Huxley#736 · Mylo#736 · Misael#733 · Case#733 · Zahir#738 · Hugh#732 · Rudy#739 · Amos#730
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ambrose? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ambrose and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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