Fotis
A masculine given name of Greek origin meaning "light" or "brilliant".
Name Census estimates that about 16 living Americans carry the first name Fotis. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fotis today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fotis births was 1975 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fotis. 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 Fotis. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
16
~ 1 in 21,422,146 Americans
Peak year
1975
6 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1985 SSA rank
#6,037
Tracked since 1975
Popularity
Fotis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fotis from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 11 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Fotis remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fotis 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 Fotis 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 Fotis
The name Fotis is derived from the Greek word "phos" or "photos", meaning light. It is a masculine given name that originated in ancient Greece and has been in use for thousands of years. The name may have been inspired by the Greek god Apollo, who was associated with the sun and light.
Fotis was a relatively common name among ancient Greeks, and it can be found in various historical texts and records from that time period. One of the earliest known references to the name is in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC.
In the Byzantine era, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th century AD, the name Fotis gained further popularity among Greek Christians. It was often given to children as a symbol of the light of Christianity and the hope for enlightenment.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Fotis was Fotis of Constantinople, a 9th-century Byzantine scholar and theologian. He was known for his contributions to the study of canon law and his defense of the use of icons in religious worship.
Another notable bearer of the name was Fotis Kontoglou, a Greek painter and writer who lived from 1895 to 1965. He is renowned for his Byzantine-inspired iconography and his efforts to revive traditional Greek art forms.
In the 20th century, Fotis Rizos (1919-1997) was a prominent Greek actor and comedian, known for his roles in numerous films and theatrical productions. He was widely regarded as one of the most talented comedians of his time in Greece.
Fotis Kouvelis (born 1948) is a Greek lawyer and politician who served as the leader of the Democratic Left party from 2010 to 2014. He played a significant role in the formation of coalition governments during the Greek government-debt crisis.
Fotis Gennimatas (1938-2021) was a Greek politician and journalist who served as the Minister of National Defense and the Minister of the Interior in the 1980s. He was also a member of the European Parliament and a prominent figure in the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party.
People
Fotis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fotis as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fotis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fotis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fotis 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 21,422,146 US residents.
Is Fotis a common name?
We classify Fotis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 36.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fotis most popular?
The single biggest year for Fotis was 1975, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fotis is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Fotis a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fotis 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.