Odysseus
Masculine
Odysseus is the man the Odyssey is named after, and the poem itself stops to explain his name — which is unusual, and which does not settle anything. The explanation given is that he is the one people are angry with.
How old is the name Odysseus?
Odysseus first appears in US birth records in 1999 — 26 years ago. The typical Odysseus is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Odysseus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Odysseus most popular?
Odysseus peaked in 2020, reaching #2806 nationally. Today it ranks #2833, 27 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Where it comes from
From Odysseus to Odysseus
The story of Odysseus
Odysseus is the king of Ithaca who devises the wooden horse, wins the war, and then takes ten years to travel home — the second half of which is the poem. He is the Greek hero admired for cleverness rather than strength, which made him a more complicated figure in later tradition: Roman writers, who traced their own line to Troy, called him Ulixes and did not care for him. English gets Ulysses from that Latin form. The name has been used in the United States in small numbers for a long time, and its recent appearances belong to the broader return of classical names.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Odyssey supplies its own etymology: his grandfather names him from odyssomai, to be angry or to bear a grudge, making him the man of wrath, or the man others have a grudge against — the Greek allows both directions and the poem plays on that. Modern scholarship generally treats this as a poetic pun rather than a derivation, and takes the name as pre-Greek, from a language spoken in the region before Greek arrived. Nothing is settled.
How the name formed
- Odysseus
- Ulixes
- Ulysses
Related forms: Ulixes · Ulysses · Ὀδυσσεύς · Odisseo
Pronouncing Odysseus
oh-DIS-ee-us
Four syllables with the stress on the second. Greek says it closer to o-dys-SEFS, with the ending collapsed; the English saying spreads it out and is the one the name will meet.
Nicknames for Odysseus
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
- 1999
- Most boys named
- 202544 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2806reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- +12.8%44 in 2025, from 39
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.
Odysseus in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ulixes in Latin — related form
- Ulysses in English — related form
- Ὀδυσσεύς in Greek — transliteration
- Odisseo in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Washington.
Odysseuss among us
people named Odysseus are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 38,820 born in 2025 was named Odysseus
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 Eion test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Odysseus's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Eion climbed just as high around 2000, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Eion's path sketches the road Odysseus is walking now.
Odysseus 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
Where Odysseus is headed
Odysseus should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Odysseus beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Odysseus in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One of the best-documented names in Western literature, with an entire poem attached.
- Ody is a natural short form that a long name genuinely needs.
- Four syllables give it real weight, which pairs well with a short surname.
- Four syllables and an unusual shape mean it will be spelled out constantly.
- Its meaning is unsettled, and the one the poem gives is about anger.
- It is a very large name to hand a child, and everyone who meets it will say so.
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What they receive
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Odysseus
Masculine · #2833 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Odysseuss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Odysseus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Odysseus in 2025?
- Odysseus ranks #2833 among US boy names in 2025, with 44 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Odysseus?
- About 1 in every 38,820 US boys born in 2025 was named Odysseus — 44 in all.
- Will my child share the name Odysseus with classmates?
- Odysseus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Odysseus
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Bayron#2833 · Josef#2833 · Mahlon#2833 · Ward#2833 · Jarvis#2833 · Abriel#2833 · Alain#2833 · Braiden#2833
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Odysseus? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Odysseus and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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