August
Feminine · Latin roots · “Venerable”
August is given to both — 6,270 girls and 68,182 boys since 1880. See August as a boy nameSee other names given to both
August began as a Roman honorific — the title the Senate gave Octavian — and ended up on every calendar in the Western world, which means it arrives already legible to everyone. In German and Scandinavian hands it lost the Latin ending and became the crisp two-syllable name it is now, carried by the playwright August Wilson and by August Strindberg before him. It shortens, without any effort, to Gus.
How old is the name August?
August first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical August is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 6,100 people named August are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name August most popular?
August peaked in 2021, reaching #841 nationally. Today it ranks #960, 119 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From augustus (Latin, 'venerable') to August
The story of August
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. Kings and electors of Saxony and Poland bore it into the eighteenth century, and German and Scandinavian families brought it to the United States, where it has been on the records since the earliest years they were kept. Its most recent turn upward is a fresh one, so most people carrying it now are children rather than adults.
Meaning
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.
How the name formed
- augustusLatin, 'venerable'
- Augustus
- August
- Augusta
Related forms: Augustus · August · Auguste · Augusto · August · Avgust
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for August
High
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
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 2022321 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #841reached in 2021
- Change vs 2023
- −7.9%268 in 2025, from 291
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.
August in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Augustus in Latin — same name
- August in German — same name
- Auguste in French — same name
- Augusto in Italian — same name
- August in Polish — same name
- Avgust in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, North Carolina.
Augusts among us
people named August are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 5,997 born in 2025 was named August
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 Jonathan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. August's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jonathan climbed just as high around 1984, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jonathan's path sketches the road August is walking now.
August 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 August is headed
August should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
August beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to August in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- An unbroken written record from Roman antiquity through European royalty to modern American usage.
- 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.
- Some people will assume it is short for Augustus and ask what the full name is.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put August to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
August
Feminine · Latin roots · #960 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Augusts are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,100 people named August are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name August in 2025?
- August ranks #960 among US girl names in 2025, with 268 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name August?
- About 1 in every 5,997 US girls born in 2025 was named August — 268 in all.
- Will my child share the name August with classmates?
- August will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside August
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aadhya#960 · Ainhoa#960 · Bexley#960 · Amiri#964 · Aleah#965 · Anika#955 · Love#955 · Mazie#965
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles August? See the current top 100.
Choosing between August and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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