Anatole
Of Greek origin meaning "rising" or "sunrise".
Name Census estimates that about 79 living Americans carry the first name Anatole. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Anatole today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anatole births was 1918 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anatole. 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 Anatole. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
79
~ 1 in 4,338,663 Americans
Peak year
1918
11 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,951
Tracked since 1889
Popularity
Anatole: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anatole from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 57 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anatole 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 Anatole during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anatoles live
Origin
Meaning and history of Anatole
The name Anatole has its origins in the Greek language, deriving from the word "anatole" which means "sunrise" or "the east". This name was particularly popular in ancient Greece and the surrounding regions during the classical period.
Anatole was a name given to boys in ancient Greek families, often symbolizing the hope and promise of a new day or a new beginning. The name carried connotations of rebirth, renewal, and the cycle of life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Anatole can be found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who mentioned an individual by that name in his writings from the 5th century BCE.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Anatole. One of the most famous was Anatole France (1844-1924), a French novelist and poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921 for his literary achievements.
Another prominent figure was Anatole Krakovsky (1896-1975), a Russian-born American painter and illustrator known for his vibrant and colorful works depicting scenes from everyday life.
In the realm of science, Anatole Abragam (1914-2011) was a French physicist who made significant contributions to the field of nuclear magnetic resonance and was elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1977.
The name Anatole also found its way into the world of classical music through the composer Anatole Liadov (1855-1914), a Russian known for his orchestral works inspired by Russian folklore and fairy tales.
Lastly, Anatole Broyard (1920-1990) was an American literary critic and editor who worked for several renowned publications, including The New York Times Book Review, and was known for his insightful and thought-provoking critiques.
While the name Anatole has Greek roots, it has been embraced across various cultures and regions over the centuries, carrying with it a sense of new beginnings, optimism, and the promise of a bright future.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Anatole
People
Anatole + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anatole 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
Anatole: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anatole?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 79 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anatole 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 4,338,663 US residents.
Is Anatole a common name?
We classify Anatole as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 199 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anatole most popular?
The single biggest year for Anatole was 1918, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anatole is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Anatole a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anatole 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.
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.