Socrates
Masculine · “safe power”
Socrates is one of a small set of classical names that English uses exactly as the Greek left them, ending and all. Most of Europe files that ending off. And the best-known modern bearer was not a philosopher but a footballer who was also a doctor of medicine.
How old is the name Socrates?
Socrates first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Socrates alive today was born around 1981, making them about 44 years old. About 500 people named Socrates are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Socrates most popular?
Socrates peaked in 1931, reaching #1927 nationally. See the whole 1931 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Sokrates to Socrates
The story of Socrates
The philosopher wrote nothing, and everything attributed to him comes through other people's books. The name traveled with those books and stayed rare, which is why the modern bearer people actually recognize stands out so sharply. Sócrates Brasileiro was the captain of Brazil at a World Cup, a tall, bearded midfielder who played with his head up and passed with the outside of his foot, and he qualified as a medical doctor while playing professionally. At his club in São Paulo he was the center of an experiment the players called Corinthians Democracy: everything from training times to transfers to what time the team bus left was decided by a vote in which the kit man counted the same as the captain. It ran for several years under a military government, and the squad campaigned openly for elections. He died at fifty-seven.
Meaningscholars disagree
safe power, or sound in strength
The second element is kratos, power, and is not in doubt. The first is usually read as sos, safe or whole, giving something like safe in power. Other readers take it from a word for sound or healthy. Greek personal names of this shape were compliments rather than descriptions, and the precise sense was probably never fixed.
How the name formed
- Sokrates
- Socrates
Related forms: Σωκράτης · Socrate · Socrate · Sócrates · Sócrates
Pronouncing Socrates
SOCK-ruh-teez
Three syllables with the stress at the front in English. Spanish and Portuguese speakers say SOH-krah-tess, and both are correct in their own language. French and Italian drop the final s altogether and write Socrate.
Nicknames for Socrates
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
- 1914
- Most boys named
- 192217 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1927reached in 1931
- Change vs 2020
- +120.0%11 in 2022, 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.
Socrates in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Σωκράτης in Greek — same name
- Socrate in French — same name
- Socrate in Italian — same name
- Sócrates in Portuguese — same name
- Sócrates in Spanish — same name
Socratess among us
people named Socrates 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
Socrates 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 one of the few names that everybody has heard and almost nobody uses.
- Soc is a short, easy form that a small child can manage.
- The Spanish and Portuguese forms are close enough that the name travels without being rebuilt.
- The association is enormous and permanent, and it belongs to an old man in a marble bust.
- Three syllables and a final z sound make it a long name to write out on a school form.
- English stresses it differently from Spanish, so a bilingual family will hear two versions of their own child's name.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Socrates to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Socrates? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Socrates
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Socratess 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 Socrates are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Socrates in 2025?
- Socrates is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Socrates with classmates?
- Socrates will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Steven#271 · Stephen#383 · Samuel#18 · Scott#534 · Sean#489 · Shawn#681 · Stanley#863 · Steve#1609
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Socrates? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Socrates and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle