Apollo
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Meaning
original meaning unknown; the name of the Greek god of music, prophecy and healing
The story
Apollo is the Latin form of Greek Apollon, whose original meaning is unknown. In Greek mythology he is the son of Zeus and Leto and the twin of Artemis. His many roles include music, poetry, healing and prophecy, the speaking of messages believed to come from a god. The lyre, a stringed instrument, is one of the objects that identifies his musical role in art.
At Delphi, people brought their questions to Apollo’s place of worship. His priestess, the Pythia, delivered the answers, and this practice had influence in religion and politics across the ancient Greek world. Apollo’s association with the sun developed later. Helios, the older sun god known for the chariot that carries the sun, has a distinct place in Greek tradition.
The name acquired a very different association through NASA’s Apollo program, which made the first crewed landings on the Moon. Abe Silverstein proposed Apollo in 1960. Like Mercury, an earlier NASA program name, it came from mythology and had associations he found appealing.
How popular is Apollo around the world?
In the United States, 4,492 babies were named Apollo between 2020 and 2025.
Apollo is on the official records of the United States, Canada, England and Wales, South Australia, Poland and Brazil.
United States
1 in 4,900
In the United States, 4,492 babies were named Apollo between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Apollo peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 8,000
In Canada, 46 boys named Apollo were born in 2024, the 594th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 15,000
In England and Wales, 39 boys named Apollo were born in 2025, the 822nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Apollo in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Poland
1 in 62,000
In Poland, 4 boys named Apollo were born in 2025, the 490th most common name among boys that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Brazil
1 in 62,000
At the 2022 census, 3,208 people in Brazil were named Apollo, ranked 3,708th, with a median age of 2.
Among people named Apollo living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 1,944 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Argentina
last on record 2023
Apollo is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Austria
last on record 2024
Apollo is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Ireland
last on record 2024
Apollo is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
last on record 2020
Apollo is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Puerto Rico and New Zealand: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
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.
Keep exploring
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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