Horatio
Masculine
Every Victorian schoolboy could recite how Horatius kept the bridge. Macaulay's poem of 1842 was memorised across the English-speaking world for a century, and it is the reason a Roman family name was familiar enough to give to a child.
How old is the name Horatio?
Horatio was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Horatio alive today was born around 1970, making them about 55 years old. About 900 people named Horatio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Horatio most popular?
Horatio peaked in 1880, reaching #465 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 10,230 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Horatius to Horatio
The story of Horatio
Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome retold the legend of Horatius Cocles, who held the bridge over the Tiber against an Etruscan army while it was demolished behind him and then swam back in his armor. It was written to be recited, it was in every school reader, and its opening lines were as widely known as any poetry in English. The name was already carried by the poet Horace, by the Horatii of the legendary duel with the Curiatii, and, more recently, by Nelson, whose fame after Trafalgar in 1805 put Horatio into ordinary English use. By the time American records begin in 1880 the name was well established and already declining, so its whole visible curve is a fall from a peak that happened earlier.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Horatio is the English form of the Roman family name Horatius, whose meaning is not established; a connection to hora, an hour or season, is sometimes proposed and is not supported. The peak is 1880, at the very start of the American records.
How the name formed
- Horatius
- Horatio
Related forms: Orazio · Horacio · Horace
Pronouncing Horatio
huh-RAY-shee-oh
Four syllables, stress on the second. The Italian Orazio drops the h and is the same name.
Nicknames for Horatio
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
- 200740 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #465reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −25.0%6 in 2025, from 8
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.
Horatio in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Orazio in Italian — same name
- Horacio in Spanish — same name
- Horace in English — related form
Horatios among us
people named Horatio are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Horatio
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
Horatio 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
Horatio beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Horatio 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 documented literary and naval history.
- Four syllables with a strong second beat.
- It exists in a local form across southern Europe.
- Four syllables is long before a surname.
- Its own meaning is genuinely unknown.
- Its 1880 peak places it at the very edge of the data.
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Horatio
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Horatios are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Horatio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Horatio in 2025?
- Horatio ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Horatio?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Horatio — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Horatio with classmates?
- Horatio will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Horatio
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Horatio? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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