Augustus
The story
Augustus is the title the Roman senate gave Octavian, great and venerable, the word that turned a name into an office, and the American record shows a true vintage arc: real use in the 1890s through the 1920s, about 460 to 1,550 a decade, the long fade to a floor of about 510 in the 1970s, and the revival: 1,400, 2,300, then 5,100 in the 2010s, the decade a doomed and eloquent boy carried it through the era's most-wept-over novel, and 4,100 so far this decade, closing on the full 2010s with years to run. It goes to boys almost absolutely: about 21,100 to ten. August, the calmer month-form, runs bigger at about 72,400 with its own story here, and Gus waits inside both. An empire in the root, a nursery in the ear.
Augustus around the world
One shared root links 7 names across 5 languages.
Shared root: from Latin augustus "exalted, venerable", the imperial title behind Augustus, Augustine, and their kin
The constellation
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Augustus peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
255 people · the #21,390 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 13
Among people named Augustus living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 55 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Augustus
Most people given the name Augustus 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 Augustus deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Augustus 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 Augustus fits with your family’s names and surname.
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