Primo
Of Italian origin, meaning "first" or "firstborn".
Name Census estimates that about 408 living Americans carry the first name Primo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Primo today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Primo births was 1921 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Primo. 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
408
~ 1 in 840,084 Americans
Peak year
1921
31 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,702
Tracked since 1907
Popularity
Primo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Primo from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 186 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Primo 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 Primo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Primos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Primo, while Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Primo
The name Primo has its origins in the Italian language. It is derived from the Latin word "primus," meaning "first" or "foremost." The name gained popularity during the Roman era, when it was often used to denote the firstborn son or the eldest child in a family.
In ancient Roman times, the name Primo was associated with concepts of primacy, importance, and superiority. It carried a sense of prestige and distinction. During the Imperial period, several notable Romans bore the name, including Primo Marcellus, a Roman senator and historian who lived in the 1st century AD.
As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, the name Primo gained additional significance. It was sometimes bestowed upon children born on the first day of the year or during important religious festivals, symbolizing a fresh start or a new beginning.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Primo can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who mentioned a military commander named Primo Sulpicius in his work "Ab Urbe Condita" (History of Rome), written in the late 1st century BC.
Throughout history, several prominent figures have borne the name Primo. In the 13th century, Primo Cavalcanti was an Italian philosopher and poet from the city of Florence. He was a close friend of the renowned writer Dante Alighieri and is mentioned in Dante's literary masterpiece, "The Divine Comedy."
During the Renaissance period, Primo Levi was an Italian humanist, scholar, and writer who lived from 1460 to 1528. He is known for his works on philosophy, literature, and Jewish history, and was a prominent figure in the intellectual circles of his time.
In the 19th century, Primo Levi, an Italian chemist and writer, was born in 1919. He survived the Holocaust and gained international recognition for his memoir "If This Is a Man," which detailed his experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.
Another notable figure with the name Primo was Primo Conti, an Italian film director and screenwriter born in 1900. He directed several critically acclaimed films during the Golden Age of Italian cinema, including "Piccolo Mondo Antico" (The Little Old World) and "Eugenia Grandet."
While the name Primo has its roots in Italian culture and language, it has been adopted and used in various other cultures and countries over the centuries, further adding to its rich history and diversity.
People
Primo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Primo 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
Primo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Primo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 408 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Primo 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 840,084 US residents.
Is Primo a common name?
We classify Primo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 864 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Primo most popular?
The single biggest year for Primo was 1921, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Primo is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Primo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Primo 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.