Napoleon
Masculine
Napoleon is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 7,805 boys against 5 girls since 1880.
Napoleon is an Italian name from Corsica that one man made unusable for anybody else, and then American parents used it anyway.
How old is the name Napoleon?
Napoleon was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Napoleon alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 3,800 people named Napoleon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Napoleon most popular?
Napoleon peaked in 1887, reaching #294 nationally. Today it ranks #4539, 4,245 places below that high. See the whole 1887 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Napoleone to Napoleon
The story of Napoleon
The name existed in Italy, and particularly in Corsica, before the emperor was born; there were Napoleones in Italian records for centuries. What happened afterwards is that one bearer absorbed the entire name. In the United States it was given to boys through the nineteenth century in real numbers, often in Louisiana and among families of French descent, where the association was pride rather than caution.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The Italian Napoleone is old and its origin is argued. One reading takes it from a Germanic personal name reshaped by Italian; another connects it to Naples. A folk derivation reads it as 'lion of the wilderness', which is almost certainly invented after the fact. Nothing here is settled.
How the name formed
- Napoleone
- Napoleon
Related forms: Napoleone · Napoleon
Pronouncing Napoleon
nuh-POH-lee-un
Four syllables, stress on the second. The French says it in three, with the final syllable nasalised.
Nicknames for Napoleon
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
- 1921117 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #294reached in 1887
- Change vs 2022
- +120.0%22 in 2025, from 10
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.
Napoleon in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Napoleone in Italian — same name
- Napoleon in French — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Napoleons among us
people named Napoleon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 77,640 born in 2025 was named Napoleon
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
Napoleon 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
Napoleon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Napoleon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Leon is hiding inside it as a ready, ordinary short form.
- A documented Italian and Corsican history that predates the emperor by centuries.
- Almost nobody is named this, so it is genuinely distinctive.
- One historical figure owns this name completely, and he is a figure people have strong opinions about.
- It is four syllables and unmistakably grand, which is a lot to ask a child to carry every day.
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What they receive
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Napoleon
Masculine · #4539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Napoleons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,800 people named Napoleon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Napoleon in 2025?
- Napoleon ranks #4539 among US boy names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Napoleon?
- About 1 in every 77,640 US boys born in 2025 was named Napoleon — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Napoleon with classmates?
- Napoleon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Napoleon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Gabe#4539 · Michel#4539 · Elroy#4539 · Orlin#4539 · Pearce#4539 · Josemaria#4539 · Jory#4539 · Nels#4539
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Napoleon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Napoleon and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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