Athanasius
Masculine Greek name meaning "immortal" or "undying".
Name Census estimates that about 238 living Americans carry the first name Athanasius. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Athanasius today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Athanasius births was 2023 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Athanasius. 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.
People living today
238
~ 1 in 1,440,144 Americans
Peak year
2023
25 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,189
Tracked since 2001
Census
Athanasius in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 218 people with the first name Athanasius, which placed it at #36,419 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
#36,419
National first-name rank
People counted
218
218 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Athanasius
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Athanasius is White at 60.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and Hispanic (7.3%). 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 Athanasius 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 Athanasius at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.6% · 132
- Black or African American20.6% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 16
- Two or more races6.4% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 11
Popularity
Athanasius: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Athanasius from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 101 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Athanasius 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 Athanasius during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Athanasius
The name Athanasius has its origins in the Greek language and culture. It is derived from the Greek word "athanatos," which means "immortal" or "undying." The name can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was given to individuals as a way of expressing the hope for eternal life or immortality.
One of the earliest and most notable historical references to the name Athanasius is found in the writings of the early Christian theologian and bishop, Athanasius of Alexandria. Born in 293 AD in the city of Alexandria, Egypt, he was a prominent figure in the debates surrounding the nature of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ. His unwavering defense of the orthodox Christian doctrine earned him the title "Athanasius Contra Mundum" (Athanasius Against the World).
Another famous bearer of the name Athanasius was Athanasius the Athonite, a 10th-century Byzantine monk and founder of the monastic community on Mount Athos, Greece. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and is celebrated for his contributions to the development of monastic life.
In the 16th century, Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit scholar and polymath, made significant contributions to various fields, including Egyptology, linguistics, and mathematics. He was born in 1601 in Geisa, Germany, and is remembered for his pioneering work in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs and his extensive studies on ancient cultures.
Moving forward in time, Athanasius Parios was a Greek monk and scholar who lived in the 17th century. Born in 1642 on the island of Paros, Greece, he is best known for his work in compiling and preserving ancient Greek manuscripts, particularly those related to Byzantine history and literature.
In the realm of literature, Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit priest and scholar, made significant contributions to various fields, including Egyptology, linguistics, and mathematics. He was born in 1602 in Geisa, Germany, and is remembered for his pioneering work in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs and his extensive studies on ancient cultures.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Athanasius, a name deeply rooted in the rich cultural heritage of ancient Greece and the early Christian tradition, reflecting the enduring human desire for immortality and the pursuit of knowledge.
People
Athanasius + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Athanasius 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
Athanasius: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Athanasius?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 238 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Athanasius 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 1,440,144 US residents.
Is Athanasius a common name?
We classify Athanasius as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 240 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Athanasius most popular?
The single biggest year for Athanasius was 2023, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Athanasius is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Athanasius in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 218 people with the name Athanasius, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,419 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 Athanasius 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 Athanasius?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Athanasius appears almost entirely male. Of the 217 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Athanasius?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Athanasius is White at 60.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and Hispanic (7.3%). 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 Athanasius most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Athanasius in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.6% (132 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 Athanasius in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Athanasius a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Athanasius 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 Athanasius still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Athanasius 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 Athanasius 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 common is the name Athanasius?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Athanasius on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.