Eugene
Masculine · “well-born”
Eugene is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 380,708 boys against 2,632 girls since 1880. See Eugene as a girl name
The word eugenics was built from the same Greek root as this name, by a man who wanted a term for improving human stock, and there is no honest way to write about the name without saying so. The name is two thousand years older and belonged to popes and generals long before any of that.
How old is the name Eugene?
Eugene was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Eugene alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 139,000 people named Eugene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Eugene most popular?
Eugene peaked in 1927, reaching #20 nationally. Today it ranks #943, 923 places below that high. See the whole 1927 chart.
Where it comes from
From Eugenios to Eugene
The story of Eugene
Its most remarkable bearer was rejected by the country he had been born in. Prince Eugene of Savoy was refused a commission by Louis the Fourteenth, went east, took service with the Habsburgs, and spent the next forty years beating French armies and Ottoman ones with roughly equal thoroughness — Blenheim, Turin, Belgrade. He built libraries and palaces with the proceeds and left one of the great book collections of Europe. The name went into wide Catholic use through four popes and a good many saints, reached America in the nineteenth century, and was near the top of the lists within two generations.
Meaning
well-born
The Greek compound joins a word meaning good or well to one about birth or descent. It was an ordinary aristocratic compliment in Greek and carried no more weight than that.
How the name formed
- Eugenios
- Eugenius
- Eugene
Related forms: Eugene · Eugenio · Eugenio · Yevgeny · Eugeniusz
Pronouncing Eugene
you-JEEN
Two syllables with the weight at the back in America. British English front-weights it, YOO-jeen, and French says uh-ZHEN.
Nicknames for Eugene
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
- 19279,742 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #20reached in 1927
- Change vs 2022
- +0.4%249 in 2025, from 248
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.
Eugene in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eugene in French — same name
- Eugenio in Italian — same name
- Eugenio in Spanish — same name
- Yevgeny in Russian — transliteration
- Eugeniusz in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Eugenes among us
people named Eugene are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 6,860 born in 2025 was named Eugene
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 Albert test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Eugene's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Albert climbed just as high around 1910, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Albert's path sketches the road Eugene is walking now.
Eugene has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Eugene is headed
Eugene 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.
Eugene beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Eugene in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has a form in every European language, eastern and western alike.
- Gene is a ready short form and a standing name in its own right.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the first year they were kept.
- The meaning is settled and easy to explain.
- The word eugenics shares its root, and anyone who knows that cannot unknow it.
- It is strongly associated with the first half of the twentieth century in America.
- The stress differs between American and British English.
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What they receive
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Eugene
Masculine · #943 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Eugenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 139,000 people named Eugene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Eugene in 2025?
- Eugene ranks #943 among US boy names in 2025, with 249 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Eugene?
- About 1 in every 6,860 US boys born in 2025 was named Eugene — 249 in all.
- Will my child share the name Eugene with classmates?
- Eugene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Eugene
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kenji#943 · Zyon#943 · Salvatore#943 · Zymir#943 · Khalid#940 · Rowdy#940 · Veer#940 · Ricky#948
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Eugene? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Eugene and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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