Athan
Masculine · “immortal”
Athan clips Athanasios — deathless, in Greek — and Athanasius spent seventeen years in exile defending the creed.
How old is the name Athan?
Athan first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Athan alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 2,100 people named Athan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Athan most popular?
Athan peaked in 2012, reaching #1367 nationally. Today it ranks #2676, 1,309 places below that high. See the whole 2012 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From athanatos to Athan
The story of Athan
Athanasius of Alexandria was exiled five times over seventeen years for holding the Nicene position against emperors who did not, and the phrase 'Athanasius against the world' comes from it. His name means deathless. Athan is the Greek short form and appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
immortal, deathless
From the Greek athanatos — a, 'not', and thanatos, 'death' — so 'deathless'. Athanasios is the full form and Athan the Greek clipping. Thanatos is the personified Death of Greek myth. The Greek is documented.
How the name formed
- athanatos
- Athanasios
- Athan
Related forms: Αθανάσιος · Athanasius · Atanasio
Pronouncing Athan
AH-thun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Greek Athanasios is a-tha-NA-see-os.
Nicknames for Athan
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
- 1917
- Most boys named
- 2012123 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1367reached in 2012
- Change vs 2024
- −21.3%48 in 2025, from 61
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.
Athan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Αθανάσιος in Greek — related form
- Athanasius in English — related form
- Atanasio in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Athans among us
people named Athan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 35,585 born in 2025 was named Athan
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 Corie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Athan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Corie climbed just as high around 1977, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Corie's path sketches the road Athan is walking now.
Athan 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 Athan is headed
Athan should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Athan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Athan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That 'Athanasius against the world' comes from five exiles is a first-rate fact.
- The deathless meaning is transparent and strong.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- Nathan is a near-homophone and far commoner.
- It reads as a clipping rather than a full name.
- It reads as specifically Greek.
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What they receive
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Athan
Masculine · #2676 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Athans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Athan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Athan in 2025?
- Athan ranks #2676 among US boy names in 2025, with 48 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Athan?
- About 1 in every 35,585 US boys born in 2025 was named Athan — 48 in all.
- Will my child share the name Athan with classmates?
- Athan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Athan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Isaak#2676 · Hershel#2676 · Mikhael#2676 · Kylon#2676 · Pryce#2676 · Davin#2676 · Juancarlos#2676 · Zyion#2676
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Athan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Athan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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