Ares
Meaning
“Greek god of war; exact root disputed, possibly linked to Greek 'are' (ruin, bane)”
The story
Ares was the Greek god of war, a son of Zeus and Hera, and the rawest and most feared of the Olympians, war as fury and bloodshed rather than strategy. The Greeks respected his power without much loving him, which gives the name a bracing, untamed edge. Its own meaning is disputed, tied by some to a word for bane or ruin and by others to a word simply meaning male. The planet Mars carries his Roman name, and the modern given name travels closely with Aris, its modern Greek form. Brand new as an American given name, Ares has climbed fast and reads as current as it has ever been, riding a wave of bold mythological names. Short, hard and elemental, Ares hands a child the god of the battlefield and dares them to live up to it.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ares peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
218 people · the #23,913 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 40
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Ares
Most people given the name Ares 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 Ares deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ares 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 Ares fits with your family’s names and surname.
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