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August Name Meaning, Origins & History

August

Pronunciation: AW-gust

Meaning Worthy of respect Origin English, Latin Gender Boy
BOYS RANK
#81
TREND
7
GIRLS RANK
#962
TREND
52
Peak Years
2025, 2024, 2023
Lowest Years
1983, 1973, 1978
Energy Archetype
Powerful & Complete

Rank shows the name’s position among U.S. baby names for each gender in 2025. Trend shows how many places it rose or fell since 2024. Rank 1 is the most popular. Based on U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) data. Peak and lowest years are based on the number of boys named August in the available records.

Fun Facts About the Name August

  • Back among the favorites: August returned to the U.S. top 100 in 1883 and stayed there for 2 consecutive years, through 2025.
  • More than 74 thousand babies named August: U.S. records list 74,418 babies given the name August from 1880 through 2025. Even 6,266 girls received the name August - about 1 girl for every 11 boys.

What Does the Name August Mean?

August is a masculine given name derived from the Latin imperial title Augustus, which means "venerable," "majestic," or "consecrated." The Latin word was used as an honorific for Roman emperors and is the source of the English adjective august ("inspiring reverence or admiration"). Its deeper etymology is uncertain: it is often linked to Latin augere, "to increase," or to augur, "diviner, soothsayer," but no single derivation is universally accepted.

The English name August corresponds to the Latin stem of Augustus; in some European languages, the same form also serves as a short form of Augustin or Augustine. Its literal sense is an honorific title, not a statement about the month of August, even though both the name and the month trace back to the same Roman source.

August Name History & Origins

The source of the name is the Latin Augustus, a title conferred on Gaius Octavius (Octavian) by the Roman Senate in 27 BC. Octavian, adopted heir of Julius Caesar, had defeated his rivals in the civil wars that followed Caesar's death; the Senate's grant of Augustus marked his position as Rome's first emperor. The title carried associations of religious sanction and social preeminence, and later emperors adopted it as part of their imperial nomenclature. The feminine form Augusta was used for empresses and other women of the imperial house.

The related name Augustinus (English Austin or Augustine) became widely known through Saint Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430), whose writings shaped Western Christian thought. The shorter name August appears as a vernacular form in several European languages: German, Polish, and Scandinavian languages use August, while French has Auguste, and Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese have Augusto. In English, August has been used as a given name, distinct from the month name, though both derive from the same Roman source.

In the German-speaking lands, the name was borne by several noble and princely figures, including August, Elector of Saxony (1526 - 1586), and later rulers such as Frederick August I of Saxony (1670 - 1733), who was also king of Poland as Augustus II. The name also appears in Swedish history and literature; the playwright August Strindberg (1849 - 1912) is a well-known bearer. These bearers show the name in German and Swedish contexts from the sixteenth century onward.

The month of August was renamed from Sextilis in 8 BC in honor of the emperor Augustus, which helps explain why the name and the month share a form in many languages. The given name's history, however, rests on the imperial title and its later use as a personal name, not on the calendar.

How Popular is the Name August?

August recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2025. August ranked among the top 100 U.S. names from 1880 through 1891, then returned in 2024 and remained through 2025.

U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.

Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.

Explore Name Lists Featuring August

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How the Name August Shapes Your Personality and Life?

Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.

Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.

✦ August's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover August's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.
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