Alcibiades
Ancient Greek name meaning "man of prowess" or "man of battle".
Name Census estimates that about 4 living Americans carry the first name Alcibiades. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Alcibiades today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alcibiades births was 1969 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alcibiades. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Alcibiades. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
4
~ 1 in 85,688,585 Americans
Peak year
1969
5 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1969 SSA rank
#4,414
Tracked since 1969
Census
Alcibiades in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 333 people with the first name Alcibiades, which placed it at #27,468 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#27,468
National first-name rank
People counted
333
333 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
95.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alcibiades
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alcibiades is Hispanic at 95.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Black (0.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Alcibiades described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Alcibiades at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.2% · 317
- White2.4% · 8
- Black or African American0.9% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
- Two or more races0.6% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Alcibiades: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Alcibiades by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Alcibiades during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Alcibiades
The name Alcibiades is of Greek origin, tracing its roots back to ancient Athens in the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Greek words "alkē," meaning strength or valor, and "bios," meaning life, suggesting a meaning of "strong life" or "life of vigor."
Alcibiades was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general during the Peloponnesian War. He was born around 450 BCE to a wealthy and influential Athenian family. His charismatic personality, military prowess, and political ambition made him a controversial figure in his time, earning him both ardent supporters and fierce critics.
In ancient Greek literature, Alcibiades is mentioned extensively in the works of Plato and Thucydides, providing valuable insights into his life and character. Plato's dialogues, particularly the "Symposium" and "Alcibiades," depict him as a brilliant but flawed individual, known for his extraordinary beauty, charm, and intellect.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alcibiades can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, who chronicled the events of the Peloponnesian War, in which Alcibiades played a pivotal role.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Alcibiades, including:
1. Alcibiades (c. 450-404 BCE), the famous Athenian statesman and general.
2. Alcibiades the Younger (c. 390-322 BCE), an Athenian general and the son of the renowned Alcibiades.
3. Alcibiades of Apamea (c. 200 CE), a Greek rhetorician and philosopher from Apamea in Syria.
4. Alcibiades of Smyrna (c. 180 CE), a Greek grammarian and rhetorician from Smyrna.
5. Alcibiades of Parium (c. 150 BCE), a Greek historian and writer from Parium, a city in ancient Mysia.
While the name Alcibiades has its origins in ancient Greece, it has been used across various cultures and time periods, often associated with individuals of notable character, intellect, or military prowess, reflecting the name's connotations of strength and vigor.
People
Alcibiades + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alcibiades as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Alcibiades: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alcibiades?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alcibiades going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 85,688,585 US residents.
Is Alcibiades a common name?
We classify Alcibiades as "Very Rare". It ranks above 6.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alcibiades most popular?
The single biggest year for Alcibiades was 1969, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alcibiades is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alcibiades in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 333 people with the name Alcibiades, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,468 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Alcibiades in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Alcibiades?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alcibiades leans strongly male. 331 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Alcibiades?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alcibiades is Hispanic at 95.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Black (0.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Alcibiades most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Alcibiades in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.2% (317 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Alcibiades in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alcibiades a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alcibiades in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Alcibiades still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alcibiades in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Alcibiades can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Alcibiades?
See how many people share the name Alcibiades on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.