Xerxes
A masculine Persian name denoting "ruler over heroes".
Name Census estimates that about 283 living Americans carry the first name Xerxes. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Xerxes today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Xerxes births was 2018 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Xerxes. 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 Xerxes with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
283
~ 1 in 1,211,146 Americans
Peak year
2018
21 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,209
Tracked since 1974
Census
Xerxes in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 345 people with the first name Xerxes, which placed it at #26,793 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
#26,793
National first-name rank
People counted
345
345 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
29.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Xerxes
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xerxes is Asian/Pacific Islander at 29.3%. The next largest groups are White (22.9%) and Hispanic (19.4%). 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 Xerxes 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 Xerxes at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander29.3% · 101
- White22.9% · 79
- Hispanic or Latino19.4% · 67
- Black or African American18.6% · 64
- Two or more races7.8% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 7
Popularity
Xerxes: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Xerxes from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 117 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Xerxes remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Xerxes 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 Xerxes during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Xerxes' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Xerxes
The name Xerxes is derived from the Old Persian name Xšayārša, which is a combination of the words xšaya meaning "king" and arša meaning "hero" or "male". This name originated in ancient Persia, which is now modern-day Iran, during the Achaemenid Empire around the 6th century BC.
The name is most famously associated with Xerxes I, also known as Xerxes the Great, who was the fourth king of the Achaemenid Empire and reigned from 486 to 465 BC. He is best known for his invasion of Greece in 480 BC, which ultimately ended in defeat at the Battle of Salamis.
The name Xerxes is mentioned in several ancient Greek historical texts, including the works of Herodotus, Aeschylus, and Ctesias. It is also referenced in the Old Testament book of Esther, where Ahasuerus, the king mentioned in the story, is often identified as Xerxes I.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Xerxes is Xerxes I himself, who was born around 519 BC and died in 465 BC. Another famous historical figure with this name was Xerxes II, who was a brief ruler of the Achaemenid Empire in 425 BC.
Other notable individuals named Xerxes include:
1. Xerxes of Armenia, a Parthian prince who ruled as the King of Armenia from 230 to 227 BC.
2. Xerxes of Sogdiana, a Sogdian prince who ruled as the King of Sogdiana in the 4th century BC.
3. Xerxes of Persia, a Persian prince and son of Artaxerxes II, who lived in the 4th century BC.
4. Xerxes of Bactria, a Bactrian prince who ruled as the King of Bactria in the 3rd century BC.
5. Xerxes of Pontus, a Pontic prince and son of Mithridates VI Eupator, who lived in the 1st century BC.
While the name Xerxes has its origins in ancient Persia, it has been used throughout history in various regions and cultures influenced by Persian civilization, particularly in the Middle East and Central Asia.
People
Xerxes + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Xerxes as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with X
Other first names starting with X with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Xerxes: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Xerxes?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 283 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Xerxes 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 1,211,146 US residents.
Is Xerxes a common name?
We classify Xerxes as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 287 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Xerxes most popular?
The single biggest year for Xerxes was 2018, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Xerxes is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Xerxes in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 345 people with the name Xerxes, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,793 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 Xerxes 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 Xerxes?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Xerxes leans strongly male. 336 people counted with this name were male (97.7%), compared with 8 female bearers (2.3%). 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 Xerxes?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xerxes is Asian/Pacific Islander at 29.3%. The next largest groups are White (22.9%) and Hispanic (19.4%). 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 Xerxes most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Xerxes in the 2020 Census, accounting for 29.3% (101 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 Xerxes in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Xerxes a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Xerxes 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 Xerxes still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Xerxes 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 Xerxes 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 people have the name Xerxes?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Xerxes, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.