Apollo
Meaning
god of music and light
The story
Apollo is one of the great gods of Greek myth, the god of music, poetry, prophecy, healing and light, twin of Artemis and son of Zeus. He spoke through the oracle at Delphi and led the nine Muses, and grew so tied to the sun that his name came to stand for radiance itself, though the sun's own chariot belonged first to Helios. The United States lent it to the program that first put people on the moon, folding a second layer of aspiration into it, science reaching for the heavens. Brand new as an American given name, Apollo has climbed fast and reads as current as it has ever been, part of a bold wave of mythological names. Golden, lyrical and impossibly grand, Apollo hands a child the patron of music, prophecy and light, and a moonshot to go with it.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Apollo peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
3,208 people · the #3,708 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 62,500 · median age 2
Among people named Apollo living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 1,944 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Apollo
Most people given the name Apollo in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Apollo deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Apollo truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Apollo fits with your family’s names and surname.
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