Eugenie
Feminine · “well-born”
For about fifteen years in the middle of the nineteenth century, the Empress Eugenie was the most copied woman alive. What she wore, European and American women wore within the season, and what she was called, they called their daughters. Then the empire fell and she lived another fifty years in England, long outlasting the fashion she had made.
How old is the name Eugenie?
Eugenie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Eugenie alive today was born around 1938, making them about 87 years old. About 1,400 people named Eugenie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Eugenie most popular?
Eugenie peaked in 1887, reaching #412 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 10,505 places below that high. See the whole 1887 chart.
Where it comes from
From eugenes to Eugenie
The story of Eugenie
Eugenios and Eugenia were early Christian names, carried by a pope and by several saints, and they went quietly through Europe for a millennium. Then a Spanish countess married Napoleon III and became empress of the French, and the French spelling Eugenie went everywhere within a few years — into dressmaking, into hat shapes, into birth registers on both sides of the Atlantic. The name has an awkward relative it did not ask for. In the eighteen-eighties an English statistician assembled the same Greek elements into eugenics, and that word went on to be used for a set of ideas that did great harm. The name is older, the word is separate, and the coincidence is worth knowing before someone else points it out.
Meaning
well-born
Greek eugenes: eu, good or well, with genos, birth or descent. It is the ordinary Greek word for a person of good family, used as a name from late antiquity. The same two elements were put together again in the nineteenth century to make the word eugenics, which is a separate coinage and not a development of the name.
How the name formed
- eugenes
- Eugenia
- Eugenie
Related forms: Eugenie · Eugenia · Eugenia · Yevgenia · Evgenia
Pronouncing Eugenie
yoo-JEE-nee
Three syllables in English, stress on the second. The French is er-zhay-NEE, with the weight at the end and a soft zh in the middle. British families often follow the French. Both are in genuine use.
Nicknames for Eugenie
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 girls named
- 195360 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #412reached in 1887
- Change vs 2021
- +33.3%8 in 2025, from 6
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.
Eugenie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eugenie in French — same name
- Eugenia in Spanish — same name
- Eugenia in Italian — same name
- Yevgenia in Russian — same name
- Evgenia in Greek — transliteration
Eugenies among us
people named Eugenie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Eugenie
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
Eugenie 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
Eugenie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Eugenie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Greek meaning with both elements traceable to ordinary words.
- In use in French, Spanish, Italian, Greek and Russian, with the same meaning in each.
- Genie works as a short form and is unmistakable.
- The English and French sayings differ completely, so the name will be said two ways in one family.
- It shares its two Greek elements with the word eugenics, and some people will make the connection out loud.
- It is strongly represented among the oldest generations and reads as belonging to them.
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What they receive
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Eugenie
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Eugenies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Eugenie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Eugenie in 2025?
- Eugenie ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Eugenie?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Eugenie — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Eugenie with classmates?
- Eugenie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Eugenie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Adell#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Eugenie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Eugenie and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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