Austin
Masculine · “great”
Austin is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 438,042 boys against 5,681 girls since 1880. See Austin as a girl name
Austin began as the everyday English mouthful of Augustine — medieval clerks and speakers wore the long Latin name down until three syllables became two. The Augustinian friars in England were known simply as the Austin Friars, and a London street still carries the name. Say it aloud and you can hear the shortcut: AW-stin, one clean stress and done.
How old is the name Austin?
Austin was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Austin alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 415,000 people named Austin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Austin most popular?
Austin peaked in 1996, reaching #9 nationally. Today it ranks #113, 104 places below that high. See the whole 1996 chart.
Where it comes from
From Augustus to Austin
The story of Austin
The Latin name Augustinus, formed from the imperial title Augustus, came into English as Augustine and was quickly worn down in speech to Austin — the same way Augustinian friars in England became the Austin Friars. Because it was so common in the medieval period, it hardened into a surname, and it was as a surname that it crossed the Atlantic and attached itself to places, most famously the capital of Texas, named for an early Anglo colonist. American parents then did what they often do with surnames: gave it back as a first name. Its long climb through the twentieth century and its recent gentle step back from the top of the charts belong to that surname-turned-first-name tradition.
Meaning
great, venerable — via Augustine, from Latin Augustus
Austin is a contracted form of Augustine (Latin Augustinus), itself built on Augustus, the honorific title meaning 'venerable' or 'majestic'.
Cultural footprint
Austin Butler (b. 1991) — Oscar-nominated for playing Elvis
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Augustus
- Augustinus
- Augustine
- Austin
Related forms: Agustín · Augustin · Agostino · Augustyn · August · Austen
Pronouncing Austin
AW-stin
Two syllables, stress on the first. No regional disagreement worth worrying about in English.
Nicknames for Austin
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 199525,908 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #9reached in 1996
- Change vs 2022
- −8.1%3,103 in 2025, from 3,376
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.
Austin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Agustín in Spanish — related form
- Augustin in French — related form
- Agostino in Italian — related form
- Augustyn in Polish — related form
- August in German — related form
- Austen in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. International figures from Statistics Canada, Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland. Sources
Austins among us
people named Austin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 550 born in 2025 was named Austin
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 Ronald test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Austin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Ronald climbed just as high around 1941, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Ronald's path sketches the road Austin is walking now.
Austin is coming down from a big peak (#9 in 1996). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Austin is headed
Austin 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.
Austin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Austin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelling and pronunciation match: almost no American needs it repeated or explained.
- A documented line back through medieval English Augustine to Latin Augustinus — an unbroken record of many centuries.
- Charts in Canada, England and Wales, and Scotland as well as the US, so it travels across English-speaking countries without translation.
- Has close cousins in Spanish, French, Italian and Polish — Agustín, Augustin, Agostino, Augustyn — if family ties matter.
- Works equally as a surname, which keeps it at home on a nameplate or a byline.
- It has a strong generational signature: most Austins alive today are adults in their twenties, so a baby now will share the name mainly with grown-ups rather than classmates.
- The Texas city is the first association for many Americans, which some families like and others would rather avoid.
- Austen and Austyn both exist, so a child will occasionally have the spelling checked — a minor, lifelong correction rather than a real problem.
- It resists shortening. Aus and Auggie exist but neither is widespread, so the full name tends to be what everyone actually says.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Austin to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Austin
Masculine · #113 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Austins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 415,000 people named Austin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Austin in 2025?
- Austin ranks #113 among US boy names in 2025, with 3,103 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Austin?
- About 1 in every 550 US boys born in 2025 was named Austin — 3,103 in all.
- Will my child share the name Austin with classmates?
- Austin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Austin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nicholas#112 · Jace#114 · Jaxon#115 · River#111 · Easton#110 · Harrison#116 · Damian#109 · Lorenzo#117
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Austin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Austin and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
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; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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