Tiberius
Masculine · “of the Tiber”
Tiberius is a Roman first name taken straight from a river: the Tiber, which Rome was built along. It is one of the small set of first names that Roman men actually used, and it has been out of ordinary circulation for a very long time, which is part of its appeal now.
How old is the name Tiberius?
Tiberius first appears in US birth records in 1992 — 33 years ago. The typical Tiberius is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,300 people named Tiberius are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tiberius most popular?
Tiberius peaked in 2015, reaching #1514 nationally. Today it ranks #3128, 1,614 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Where it comes from
From Tiberis to Tiberius
The story of Tiberius
Republican Rome used only a handful of first names, and Tiberius was one of them, abbreviated to two letters in inscriptions. It belonged to several major families and to the second emperor, after which it stayed in Roman use for centuries. It fell out of everyday circulation with the empire and survived mostly in histories, which is where American parents found it again; it has appeared in the records in small but steady numbers in recent decades.
Meaning
of the Tiber
Formed from Tiberis, the Latin name of the river; the river's own name is older than Latin and not explained.
How the name formed
- Tiberis
- Tiberius
Related forms: Tiberio · Tiberio · Tiberiu · Tiberiy
Pronouncing Tiberius
ty-BEER-ee-us
Four syllables, stress on the second. Classical Latin would be closer to ti-BEH-ri-us.
Nicknames for Tiberius
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
- 1992
- Most boys named
- 2015109 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1514reached in 2015
- Change vs 2024
- −26.9%38 in 2025, from 52
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.
Tiberius in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tiberio in Italian — same name
- Tiberio in Spanish — same name
- Tiberiu in Romanian — same name
- Tiberiy in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Oregon.
Tiberiuss among us
people named Tiberius are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 44,949 born in 2025 was named Tiberius
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Tiberius
- #3128
- Tiberius on the 2025 chart
- #880
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Tiberius went to 38 boys in 2025, but Tyberius is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 48, which makes it the 880th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,248 places above the chart.
- Tiberius38
- Tyberius10
About 1 boy in 35,585 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 44,949 for Tiberius itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Arash test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tiberius's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Arash climbed just as high around 1982, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Arash's path sketches the road Tiberius is walking now.
Tiberius 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 Tiberius is headed
Tiberius is easing off slowly — about 18% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium 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.
Tiberius beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tiberius in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Documented in continuous written use for more than two thousand years.
- Ty is short, current and requires no negotiation.
- The meaning is concrete — a river, a city — rather than an abstraction.
- For a large part of the audience the middle name of a certain starship captain arrives before Rome does.
- Four syllables is long, and the full name will mostly be reserved for documents.
- The emperor it is most associated with has a difficult reputation in the histories.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Tiberius
Masculine · #3128 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tiberiuss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Tiberius are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Tiberius?
- Tiberius is the most-used spelling in US records — 38 of the 48 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Tyberius.
- How popular is the name Tiberius in 2025?
- Tiberius ranks #3128 among US boy names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tiberius?
- About 1 in every 44,949 US boys born in 2025 was named Tiberius — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tiberius with classmates?
- Tiberius will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tiberius
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hamilton#3128 · Juanpablo#3128 · Courtney#3128 · Baxter#3128 · Javen#3128 · Hal#3128 · Dawud#3128 · Tavion#3128
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tiberius? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tiberius and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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