Augustus
Masculine · “Great”
Augustus is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 21,680 boys against 10 girls since 1880.
Augustus began not as a name but as an honor: a Latin word meaning venerable, voted to Rome's first emperor by the Senate in 27 BC and worn by every emperor after him. The month of August still carries it. Two thousand years later it is a mouthful of four syllables that collapses, comfortably, into Gus — and that pairing of the grand and the plainspoken is most of what the name has always offered.
How old is the name Augustus?
Augustus was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Augustus alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 15,500 people named Augustus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Augustus most popular?
Augustus peaked in 1880, reaching #175 nationally. Today it ranks #407, 232 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Where it comes from
From augustus (Latin: venerable) to Augustus
The story of Augustus
Octavian, the adopted heir of Julius Caesar, was granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate in 27 BC; it stuck to him so completely that history calls him nothing else, and his successors took it as part of the imperial style. From the title came the personal name, and from the personal name came a whole family: Augustinus, the diminutive, which gave English Augustine and the plainer August. It traveled through the Latin church and then through European royal houses — the Hanoverians used it freely, and it reached English-speaking families as a name with obvious weight and an obvious short form. Dickens gave it to Augustus Snodgrass in The Pickwick Papers, which tells you how familiar it already was to Victorian readers.
Meaning
Great, venerable, majestic
From the Latin adjective augustus, connected to the verb augere, 'to increase'. It was a word of solemn respect long before it was anyone's name.
How the name formed
- augustusLatin: venerable
- Augustus
- Augustinus
- Augustine
- August
Related forms: August · Auguste · Augusto · Augusto · August · Avgust
Pronouncing Augustus
uh-GUS-tus
Also said aw-GUS-tus, with the stress always on the middle syllable. Both are standard in American English and neither needs correcting.
Nicknames for Augustus
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2025783 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #175reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- +18.6%783 in 2025, from 660
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.
Augustus in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- August in German — same name
- Auguste in French — same name
- Augusto in Italian — same name
- Augusto in Spanish — same name
- August in Polish — same name
- Avgust in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Missouri.
Augustuss among us
people named Augustus are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,181 born in 2025 was named Augustus
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
Augustus is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Augustus is headed
Augustus 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.
Augustus beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Augustus in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two thousand years of continuous documented use, from Roman inscriptions to current birth records — it has never needed reintroducing.
- Ready-made short forms in real use: Gus, Auggie, August, each sounding quite different from the others.
- Recognized across German, French, Italian, Spanish and Polish in barely altered spellings, so it travels without translation.
- Spelling is dictated by the Latin and rarely disputed; most people who hear it can write it.
- Four syllables is a lot of name for a small person, and in practice most Augustuses spend childhood as Gus or Auggie. If you dislike both, the full form alone may be a harder sell than you expect.
- Roald Dahl's Augustus Gloop is a well-known association for anyone raised on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Fault in Our Stars gave the name a very different young bearer, Augustus Waters, which now competes for the same mental space.
- It sits close to August and Augustine, and people will sometimes reach for the wrong one — expect to clarify which name is on the birth certificate.
- The formality cuts both ways: it carries well on a diploma and can feel ceremonious on a playground. Being the only one in the room is likely either way.
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What they receive
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Augustus
Masculine · #407 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Augustuss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 15,500 people named Augustus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Augustus in 2025?
- Augustus ranks #407 among US boy names in 2025, with 783 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Augustus?
- About 1 in every 2,181 US boys born in 2025 was named Augustus — 783 in all.
- Will my child share the name Augustus with classmates?
- Augustus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Augustus
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Remy#408 · Leandro#406 · King#405 · Hector#409 · Koda#410 · Eduardo#410 · Rhys#410 · Kyler#404
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Augustus? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Augustus and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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