Apolinar
Masculine · “Greek Apollon”
Apolinar is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 1,299 boys against 5 girls since 1880.
A surprising number of early Christian heresies are named after people, and the people were usually bishops. Apollinaris of Laodicea gave his name to Apollinarianism, condemned in 381, joining Arius, Nestorius, Pelagius and Donatus in the same unenviable list.
How old is the name Apolinar?
Apolinar first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Apolinar alive today was born around 1970, making them about 55 years old. About 900 people named Apolinar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Apolinar most popular?
Apolinar peaked in 1934, reaching #1293 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 8,421 places below that high. See the whole 1934 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Apollon to Apolinar
The story of Apolinar
Apollinaris of Laodicea was a defender of Nicene orthodoxy against the Arians and a friend of Athanasius, and he then produced a Christology of his own: that Christ had a human body and soul but the divine Logos in place of a human mind. The reply, made most sharply by Gregory of Nazianzus, was that what is not assumed is not healed. His position was condemned at Constantinople in 381 and his name attached to it permanently. The pattern is common. Arius, Nestorius, Pelagius, Donatus, Eutyches, Sabellius and Jansen all gave their names to positions defined by their opponents, and in most cases what survives is the label rather than the writings, which were suppressed. Being on the losing side of a fourth-century council is a durable form of fame.
Meaning
Greek Apollon, the god Apollo
Apolinar is the Spanish form of Apollinaris, meaning belonging to Apollo, whose own name has no accepted etymology. It was borne by Apollinaris of Ravenna, a martyr, and by Apollinaris of Laodicea, a fourth-century bishop condemned as a heretic. The Spanish form drops one l. The American peak is 1934.
How the name formed
- Apollon
- Apollinaris
- Apolinar
Related forms: Apolinar · Apollinare · Apollinaire
Pronouncing Apolinar
ah-poh-lee-NAR
Four syllables, stress on the last in Spanish. The single l is the Spanish spelling; Latin and Italian double it.
Nicknames for Apolinar
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
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 192727 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1293reached in 1934
- Change vs 2021
- +40.0%7 in 2025, from 5
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.
Apolinar in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Apolinar in Spanish — same name
- Apollinare in Italian — same name
- Apollinaire in French — same name
Apolinars among us
people named Apolinar are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Apolinar
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Lamon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Apolinar's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lamon climbed just as high around 1911, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lamon's path sketches the road Apolinar is walking now.
Apolinar 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
Apolinar beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Apolinar in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Polo is an established Spanish short form.
- The Spanish pronunciation is completely regular.
- It has an unbroken history from antiquity.
- Four syllables is long for English-language settings.
- Apollinaris is the Latin form and looks quite different.
- The 1934 peak places it before the war.
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Apolinar
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Apolinars are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Apolinar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Apolinar in 2025?
- Apolinar ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Apolinar?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Apolinar — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Apolinar with classmates?
- Apolinar will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Apolinar
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Apolinar? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Apolinar and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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