Ovid
Masculine
Ovid is the name of a Roman poet, and it is in the American record as a first name in small numbers. He was sent into exile on the Black Sea at the height of his fame, for two reasons, and he only ever explained one of them.
How old is the name Ovid?
Ovid first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Ovid alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 200 people named Ovid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ovid most popular?
Ovid peaked in 1894, reaching #787 nationally. See the whole 1894 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Ovid
Ovid says he was banished for carmen et error, a poem and a mistake. The poem is generally taken to be his manual on seduction, which sat badly with an emperor legislating about marriage. The mistake he never explains, saying only that he saw something he should not have, and two thousand years of speculation has produced nothing solid. He spent his last decade on the coast of the Black Sea writing letters home that got progressively more desperate, and he was never recalled. The long poem he had finished just before, a chain of transformation stories running from the creation to his own day, became the principal source through which the whole of Greek mythology reached medieval and Renaissance Europe. Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton all read him.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Roman family name is of uncertain origin, like a good many of them. As an American first name it appears without explanation, in the pattern of classical names taken up in the nineteenth century.
Pronouncing Ovid
OV-id
Two syllables with the stress in front. The Latin original had three and was said differently.
Nicknames for Ovid
Limited
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
- 1886
- Most boys named
- 191534 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #787reached in 1894
- Change vs 1973
- 0.0%5 in 1989, from 5
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.
Ovids among us
people named Ovid are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Ovid sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is read correctly at first sight and never needs spelling out loud.
- It carries a documented literary history that a child can go and read in translation.
- Four letters and two syllables: quick to write and easy to learn.
- It reads as a classical reference to educated readers, which some families enjoy and others find heavy.
- It is close enough to Ovide and David in sound to be misheard.
- No origin is documented for the Roman name, so the meaning question has no answer.
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Ovid
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Ovids are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Ovid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ovid in 2025?
- Ovid is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Ovid with classmates?
- Ovid will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More O names
The most-given names starting with O, all years combined.
Oliver#3 · Owen#31 · Oscar#223 · Omar#260 · Otis#652 · Orlando#871 · Otto#277 · Orville#6143
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ovid? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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