Midas
A masculine given name of Greek mythology, meaning "golden" or "golden touch".
Name Census estimates that about 267 living Americans carry the first name Midas. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Midas today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Midas births was 2023 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Midas. 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
267
~ 1 in 1,283,724 Americans
Peak year
2023
45 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,941
Tracked since 2011
Popularity
Midas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Midas from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 167 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
Midas 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 Midas during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Midas' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Midas
The name Midas originates from Greek mythology and is derived from the ancient Greek word "μίδας" (midas), which means "noble" or "illustrious." It is rooted in the figure of King Midas, the legendary ruler of Phrygia, a region in what is now modern-day Turkey.
The story of King Midas is found in the works of ancient Greek writers such as Ovid and Aristotle. According to the myth, Midas was granted a wish by the god Dionysus, and he foolishly asked for the ability to turn everything he touched into gold. While this initially seemed like a blessing, it soon became a curse as even his food and drink turned to solid gold, leaving him unable to eat or drink.
The earliest recorded use of the name Midas dates back to ancient Greece, where it was sometimes given to boys in honor of the legendary king or as a symbol of nobility and wealth. However, it was not a particularly common name during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Midas. One of the earliest was Midas of Agrigentum (c. 550 BC), a Greek philosopher and mathematician from the city of Akragas (modern-day Agrigento, Sicily). Another was Midas of Pella (c. 400 BC), a Macedonian physician and botanist who served as a personal physician to King Philip II of Macedon.
In more recent times, the name Midas has been used by individuals such as Midas Dekkers (1946-2022), a Dutch biologist, writer, and television personality, and Midas Mulligan (1914-2003), an American harmonica player and composer who was a member of the King's Men vocal group.
Other notable individuals with the name Midas include Midas Kyrkostas (born 1985), a Greek footballer who played as a midfielder, and Midas Eriksen (born 1997), a Norwegian footballer who plays as a defender for Tromsø IL.
While not as common as some other names, Midas has maintained a certain level of popularity throughout history, primarily due to its connections to Greek mythology and the symbolism of wealth and prosperity associated with the legendary King Midas.
People
Midas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Midas as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Midas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Midas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 267 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Midas 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 1,283,724 US residents.
Is Midas a common name?
We classify Midas as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Midas most popular?
The single biggest year for Midas was 2023, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Midas is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Midas a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Midas 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.