Fun Facts About the Name Adonis
- More than 21 thousand babies named Adonis: U.S. records list 21,680 babies given the name Adonis from 1880 through 2025. Even 101 girls received the name Adonis - about 1 girl for every 214 boys.
What Does the Name Adonis Mean?
Adonis is generally explained as "lord," from a West Semitic word for a ruler or divine master. The Greek form Ἄδωνις (Adōnis) is most often derived from Phoenician/Canaanite ʾadōn (lord), from a Semitic root ʾ-d-n also seen in Hebrew ʾādōn (lord) and the title ʾădōnāy. The exact Semitic source and the route by which the word entered Greek are not certain; some explanations treat it as a direct Phoenician borrowing, while others allow an intermediary. The literal sense is a title of lordship, not a description of physical beauty. In later English, "Adonis" has also become a byword for a handsome young man, but that is a symbolic association drawn from the myth rather than the name's etymology.
Adonis Name History & Origins
The name Adonis belongs above all to the young man of Greek myth. His story has clear Near Eastern connections: the beautiful youth loved by a great goddess and dying young resembles older Mesopotamian and Levantine figures such as Tammuz/Dumuzid, the shepherd god mourned by Inanna/Ishtar. In Greek tradition, Adonis was born from the myrrh tree after his mother, Myrrha or Smyrna, was transformed; Aphrodite loved him, but Persephone also desired him. Zeus settled the dispute by arranging that Adonis would spend part of the year with each goddess. He was later killed by a boar. Greek cities held the Adonia, a festival with lamentation and the so-called gardens of Adonis - quick-growing plants in pots that withered as a sign of his short life.
Greek literature names him in poems and laments; Theocritus's Idyll 15 describes women at a festival of Adonis, the Hellenistic poet Bion wrote a Lament for Adonis, and Ovid retold the myth in Latin in the Metamorphoses. The name passed into Latin as Adonis and then into later European languages through the classical tradition. In English, Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis (1593) is a well-known literary retelling, but it is not the origin of the name. As an English given name, Adonis is an adoption of the classical name, and its dominant association remains the mythic youth rather than a saint or biblical figure.
How Popular is the Name Adonis?
Adonis recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2023. Its best rank was #174 in 2023.
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.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | #13,490 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2021 | #12,222 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2018 | #13,830 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2017 | #15,959 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2016 | #14,373 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2004 | #11,640 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1999 | #12,710 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #12,453 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #9,818 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1995 | #10,525 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1994 | #11,791 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #10,605 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1991 | #13,166 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1987 | #9,835 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1975 | #9,072 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1966 | #5,274 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #241 | 1,462 | 0.0856% |
| 2024 | #206 | 1,713 | 0.0999% |
| 2023 | #174 | 2,101 | 0.1230% |
| 2022 | #224 | 1,612 | 0.0924% |
| 2021 | #222 | 1,726 | 0.0987% |
| 2020 | #223 | 1,677 | 0.0972% |
| 2019 | #242 | 1,544 | 0.0861% |
| 2018 | #366 | 902 | 0.0497% |
| 2017 | #393 | 813 | 0.0439% |
| 2016 | #395 | 804 | 0.0424% |
| 2015 | #698 | 360 | 0.0188% |
| 2014 | #722 | 334 | 0.0174% |
| 2013 | #697 | 342 | 0.0181% |
| 2012 | #640 | 374 | 0.0197% |
| 2011 | #693 | 335 | 0.0176% |
| 2010 | #804 | 269 | 0.0140% |
| 2009 | #779 | 292 | 0.0147% |
| 2008 | #851 | 251 | 0.0123% |
| 2007 | #759 | 289 | 0.0139% |
| 2006 | #812 | 251 | 0.0122% |
| 2005 | #820 | 230 | 0.0115% |
| 2004 | #783 | 232 | 0.0117% |
| 2003 | #828 | 211 | 0.0107% |
| 2002 | #868 | 189 | 0.0097% |
| 2001 | #880 | 179 | 0.0092% |
| 2000 | #756 | 222 | 0.0113% |
| 1999 | #790 | 194 | 0.0101% |
| 1998 | #790 | 193 | 0.0101% |
| 1997 | #788 | 188 | 0.0100% |
| 1996 | #832 | 172 | 0.0091% |
| 1995 | #578 | 315 | 0.0165% |
| 1994 | #798 | 177 | 0.0092% |
| 1993 | #848 | 156 | 0.0080% |
| 1992 | #1,162 | 90 | 0.0045% |
| 1991 | #1,046 | 106 | 0.0052% |
| 1990 | #1,201 | 82 | 0.0040% |
| 1989 | #1,590 | 50 | 0.0025% |
| 1988 | #1,296 | 63 | 0.0033% |
| 1987 | #1,439 | 50 | 0.0027% |
| 1986 | #1,255 | 59 | 0.0032% |
| 1985 | #1,544 | 42 | 0.0023% |
| 1984 | #1,383 | 47 | 0.0026% |
| 1983 | #1,275 | 52 | 0.0029% |
| 1982 | #1,150 | 63 | 0.0035% |
| 1981 | #1,433 | 44 | 0.0025% |
| 1980 | #1,227 | 56 | 0.0031% |
| 1979 | #1,028 | 74 | 0.0043% |
| 1978 | #1,537 | 37 | 0.0023% |
| 1977 | #1,449 | 40 | 0.0024% |
| 1976 | #1,111 | 58 | 0.0037% |
| 1975 | #1,238 | 47 | 0.0030% |
| 1974 | #1,229 | 46 | 0.0029% |
| 1973 | #1,737 | 26 | 0.0017% |
| 1972 | #1,649 | 28 | 0.0017% |
| 1971 | #1,824 | 24 | 0.0014% |
| 1970 | #1,848 | 23 | 0.0012% |
| 1969 | #2,865 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1968 | #2,029 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1967 | #2,140 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1966 | #2,327 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1965 | #2,082 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1964 | #1,731 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 1963 | #2,859 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1962 | #3,043 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1961 | #3,356 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1960 | #3,337 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1959 | #2,531 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1958 | #3,034 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1957 | #2,822 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1956 | #2,360 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1955 | #2,435 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1954 | #1,593 | 23 | 0.0011% |
| 1953 | #2,186 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1952 | #3,739 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1951 | #2,664 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1950 | #3,689 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1946 | #3,531 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1937 | #3,524 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1934 | #3,684 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1933 | #3,646 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1923 | #4,242 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1920 | #3,211 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1918 | #4,189 | 5 | 0.0005% |
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.
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How the Name Adonis 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.
✦ Adonis's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Adonis's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.