Aurelius
Masculine · Latin roots · “golden”
Aurelius was a Roman clan name carried by senators, an emperor and early Christian saints, and it has been written the same way for something like two thousand years. In English it comes out in four unhurried syllables — aw-REE-lee-us — with the same Latin ending that Julius and Cornelius wear. It has only recently begun turning up on American birth certificates in any number, after a very long, very quiet presence in the language.
How old is the name Aurelius?
Aurelius first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Aurelius is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,600 people named Aurelius are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Aurelius most popular?
Aurelius peaked in 2025, reaching #991 nationally. Today it ranks #991, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Aurelius appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From aureus (Latin, 'golden') to Aurelius
The story of Aurelius
Aurelius began as a nomen — a Roman family name — belonging to the gens Aurelia, a plebeian clan that rose to the highest offices of the Republic and later gave Rome emperors, including Marcus Aurelius in the second century, whose Meditations is still in print. Christianity kept the name alive after the empire: several early saints and North African bishops bore it, and it stayed in ecclesiastical Latin long after it faded from everyday speech. From there it settled into the Romance languages in softer clothes — Aurelio in Italian and Spanish, Aurélien in French, Aurel in Romanian and Central Europe. English mostly kept the full Latin form, treated as a scholar's name rather than a common one, until the last generation or so began giving it to actual children.
Meaning
golden
From Latin aureus, 'golden'. Roman antiquarians also linked the older spelling Auselius to a Sabine word for the sun, which is why you sometimes see 'sun' offered alongside 'golden'; the gold reading is the one generally accepted.
How the name formed
- aureusLatin, 'golden'
- Aurelius
- Aurelianus
- Aurelio
- Aurélien
Related forms: Aurelio · Aurelio · Aurélien · Aurel · Aurélio · Aureliusz
Pronouncing Aurelius
aw-REE-lee-us
Four syllables, stress on the second. Classical Latin would be closer to ow-RAY-lee-oos, and Spanish and Italian speakers will naturally reach for Aurelio; both are reasonable and neither is wrong.
Nicknames for Aurelius
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
- 1913
- Most boys named
- 2025230 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #991reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +21.1%230 in 2025, from 190
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.
Aurelius in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Aurelio in Italian — same name
- Aurelio in Spanish — same name
- Aurélien in French — related form
- Aurel in Romanian — same name
- Aurélio in Portuguese — same name
- Aureliusz in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Aureliuss among us
people named Aurelius are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 7,426 born in 2025 was named Aurelius
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 Zavion test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Aurelius's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Zavion climbed just as high around 2009, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Zavion's path sketches the road Aurelius is walking now.
Aurelius is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Aurelius is headed
Aurelius looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 55% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Aurelius beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Aurelius in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way Latin spelled it, with no variant spellings competing — once heard, most people write it correctly.
- A continuous written record from Republican Rome through the early Church to the present day.
- Travels intact: Aurelio, Aurélien, Aurel and Aureliusz are all recognizable versions of the same name.
- Shortens easily to Rel, Aurel or Ari, so a child has options without needing to invent one.
- Shares its family with Aurelia, an easy match if a sister follows.
- Four syllables and a Latin ending mean roll calls, forms and coffee-shop introductions will often produce the shorter version instead. Worth deciding early which short form you actually like.
- Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism have had a strong recent revival in books and podcasts, and some people will read the name as a nod to that. If the association doesn't appeal, it is still the first thing many adults will mention.
- Expect regular confusion with Aurelio, Aurelian and the feminine Aurelia — all real names, all close in sound.
- A child with this name will very likely be the only one in the class, which cuts both ways: nothing to share, and nothing to hide behind.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Aurelius
Masculine · Latin roots · #991 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Aureliuss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Aurelius are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Aurelius in 2025?
- Aurelius ranks #991 among US boy names in 2025, with 230 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Aurelius?
- About 1 in every 7,426 US boys born in 2025 was named Aurelius — 230 in all.
- Will my child share the name Aurelius with classmates?
- Aurelius will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Aurelius
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Blaine#991 · Palmer#991 · Harold#991 · Joe#991 · Ephraim#988 · Isael#988 · Jiraiya#988 · Oziel#996
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Aurelius? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Aurelius and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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