Poseidon
Greek mythological name of the god of the sea and earthquakes.
Name Census estimates that about 318 living Americans carry the first name Poseidon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Poseidon today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Poseidon births was 2022 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Poseidon. 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
318
~ 1 in 1,077,844 Americans
Peak year
2022
33 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,816
Tracked since 2010
Popularity
Poseidon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Poseidon from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 192 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Poseidon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Poseidon 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 Poseidon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Poseidons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Poseidon
Poseidon is a name of Greek origin, derived from the ancient Greek god of the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses. The name is believed to have originated in the Mycenaean Greek period, around the 16th to 12th century BC. It is thought to be derived from the Greek words "pothi" meaning "husband" or "lord" and "da" meaning "earth" or "land," thus translating to "Lord of the Earth."
The name Poseidon first appeared in Greek mythology, where he was one of the twelve Olympian deities of the ancient Greek world. He was widely worshiped across the Greek world, particularly in coastal regions and islands, where seafaring was an integral part of life. The god Poseidon is prominently featured in Homer's epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, written around the 8th century BC.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Poseidon was a Greek statesman and general from the island of Rhodes, who lived in the 4th century BC. He played a significant role in the struggle against the Macedonian Empire and the establishment of the Rhodian Republic.
In the 2nd century AD, the Greek philosopher and mathematician Poseidonius of Apamea was a renowned figure. He made significant contributions to various fields, including astronomy, geography, and the study of tides, which he attributed to the influence of the moon.
During the Byzantine Empire, the name Poseidon was used by several notable individuals, including Poseidonius, a 6th-century Byzantine scholar and author of a treatise on the interpretation of dreams.
In the Renaissance period, the Italian humanist and philosopher Poseidonius Philelpho, born in 1417, was known for his translations of ancient Greek texts and his advocacy for the study of classical literature.
Another notable figure with the name Poseidon was the 18th-century French explorer and navigator Poseidon de Bellecourt, who led several voyages to the South Pacific and contributed to the exploration and mapping of the region.
People
Poseidon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Poseidon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Poseidon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Poseidon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 318 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Poseidon 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 1,077,844 US residents.
Is Poseidon a common name?
We classify Poseidon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 320 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Poseidon most popular?
The single biggest year for Poseidon was 2022, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Poseidon is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Poseidon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Poseidon 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.