Erasmus
A Dutch masculine name derived from the Greek word 'erasmios' meaning "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 41 living Americans carry the first name Erasmus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Erasmus today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Erasmus births was 1921 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Erasmus. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Erasmus with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Erasmus. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
41
~ 1 in 8,359,862 Americans
Peak year
1921
8 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2021 SSA rank
#11,160
Tracked since 1880
Census
Erasmus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 207 people with the first name Erasmus, which placed it at #37,585 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
#37,585
National first-name rank
People counted
207
207 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Erasmus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erasmus is Black at 51.7%. The next largest groups are White (28.5%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Erasmus 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 Erasmus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.7% · 107
- White28.5% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 10
- Two or more races4.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Erasmus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Erasmus from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 30 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Erasmus remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Erasmus 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 Erasmus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Erasmus' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Erasmus
The given name Erasmus has its origins in the Greek language, deriving from the word "erasmios" which means "beloved" or "desired". It was a popular name among the ancient Greeks, with the earliest known usage dating back to the 5th century BC.
In ancient Greek mythology, Erasmus was the name of one of the sons of the god Hercules, further cementing its association with Greek culture and traditions. The name also appears in various Greek texts and historical records from the classical period.
As the Roman Empire expanded and absorbed Greek territories, the name Erasmus spread throughout the Mediterranean region and became popular among the Romans as well. One of the most famous individuals to bear this name was Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and scholar born in 1466 and died in 1536. He was a leading figure of the Northern Renaissance and played a crucial role in the advancement of humanism and the reformation of the Church.
During the Middle Ages, the name Erasmus maintained its popularity across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Christian traditions. Saint Erasmus, also known as Saint Elmo, was a 3rd-century Christian martyr and patron saint of sailors, who is celebrated in the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
Another notable figure with the name Erasmus was Erasmus Darwin, an English physician, natural philosopher, and poet, born in 1731 and died in 1802. He was the grandfather of the famous naturalist Charles Darwin and made significant contributions to the fields of biology and evolutionary theory.
In more recent times, the name Erasmus has been associated with several prominent individuals, including Erasmus Jacobs, a South African writer and academic born in 1960, and Erasmus Mpande Shikongo, a Namibian politician and activist born in 1942 who played a crucial role in the country's struggle for independence.
While the name Erasmus may have waned in popularity in some regions, it continues to hold historical and cultural significance, particularly in areas with strong ties to Greek, Roman, and Christian traditions. Its associations with intellectualism, humanism, and religious devotion have made it a enduring choice for parents seeking a name with a rich historical legacy.
People
Erasmus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Erasmus as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Erasmus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Erasmus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 41 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Erasmus 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 8,359,862 US residents.
Is Erasmus a common name?
We classify Erasmus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 117 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Erasmus most popular?
The single biggest year for Erasmus was 1921, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Erasmus is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Erasmus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 207 people with the name Erasmus, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,585 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 Erasmus 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 Erasmus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Erasmus leans strongly male. 207 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.9%). 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 Erasmus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erasmus is Black at 51.7%. The next largest groups are White (28.5%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Erasmus most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Erasmus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.7% (107 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 Erasmus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Erasmus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Erasmus 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 Erasmus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Erasmus 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 Erasmus 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 Americans are named Erasmus?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.