Fun Facts About the Name Apollo
- More than 9 thousand babies named Apollo: U.S. records list 9,002 babies given the name Apollo from 1880 through 2025. Even 12 girls received the name Apollo - about 1 girl for every 749 boys.
What Does the Name Apollo Mean?
Apollo is a name from ancient Greek, borne by the Greek god of prophecy, music, healing, archery, and plague. Its etymology is uncertain. The Greek form is Ἀπόλλων (Apollōn), which Latin borrowed as Apollo. Ancient writers sometimes connected the name with Greek ἀπόλλυμι (apollymi), "I destroy," and with ἀπέλλαι (apellai), "assemblies" or "meetings." Modern scholars have also proposed a pre-Greek origin, and no single explanation is universally accepted. Because the name's original meaning cannot be established with confidence, it is best described as uncertain rather than as "destroyer" or another single gloss.
Apollo Name History & Origins
The name Apollo is the Greek divine name Ἀπόλλων (Apollōn), Latinized as Apollo. In Greek religion, Apollo was one of the Olympian gods, worshipped at Delphi, Delos, and elsewhere. His cult spread with Greek colonization and later with Roman rule; the Roman emperor Augustus promoted Apollo as a patron, and a temple to Apollo Palatinus was dedicated in Rome in 28 BC. The name entered English through Latin and the classical tradition.
In Greek and Roman antiquity, Apollo was primarily the god's name rather than a common standalone personal name. Greeks more often used compound names that honored the god, such as Apollodoros ("gift of Apollo") and Apollonios. In modern English, Apollo is used as a given name, usually with reference to the classical god; it also appears in the name of NASA's Apollo space program and New York's Apollo Theater, though those uses belong to institutions and projects rather than to the personal name's older history.
How Popular is the Name Apollo?
Apollo recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2022. Its best rank was #389 in 2022.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | #12,333 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2020 | #15,322 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #445 | 708 | 0.0415% |
| 2024 | #414 | 776 | 0.0452% |
| 2023 | #434 | 717 | 0.0420% |
| 2022 | #389 | 820 | 0.0470% |
| 2021 | #397 | 787 | 0.0450% |
| 2020 | #448 | 665 | 0.0385% |
| 2019 | #489 | 590 | 0.0329% |
| 2018 | #510 | 552 | 0.0304% |
| 2017 | #536 | 528 | 0.0285% |
| 2016 | #585 | 470 | 0.0248% |
| 2015 | #751 | 322 | 0.0168% |
| 2014 | #796 | 288 | 0.0150% |
| 2013 | #975 | 205 | 0.0108% |
| 2012 | #983 | 203 | 0.0107% |
| 2011 | #1,227 | 142 | 0.0075% |
| 2010 | #1,241 | 142 | 0.0074% |
| 2009 | #1,841 | 80 | 0.0040% |
| 2008 | #1,825 | 80 | 0.0039% |
| 2007 | #1,650 | 93 | 0.0045% |
| 2006 | #1,877 | 72 | 0.0035% |
| 2005 | #2,569 | 43 | 0.0022% |
| 2004 | #2,746 | 38 | 0.0019% |
| 2003 | #3,047 | 31 | 0.0016% |
| 2002 | #2,197 | 48 | 0.0025% |
| 2001 | #5,692 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2000 | #4,800 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1999 | #3,847 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1998 | #3,601 | 20 | 0.0010% |
| 1997 | #6,123 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1996 | #6,010 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1995 | #4,807 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1994 | #5,896 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1993 | #6,856 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1992 | #4,123 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1991 | #2,832 | 23 | 0.0011% |
| 1990 | #2,869 | 22 | 0.0011% |
| 1989 | #3,628 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1988 | #2,690 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 1987 | #2,117 | 28 | 0.0015% |
| 1986 | #1,590 | 41 | 0.0022% |
| 1985 | #1,917 | 30 | 0.0016% |
| 1984 | #2,296 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 1983 | #2,142 | 24 | 0.0013% |
| 1982 | #1,569 | 39 | 0.0021% |
| 1981 | #2,422 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 1980 | #2,218 | 23 | 0.0013% |
| 1979 | #1,373 | 46 | 0.0027% |
| 1978 | #1,917 | 26 | 0.0016% |
| 1977 | #4,615 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1976 | #4,968 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1975 | #3,968 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1974 | #3,862 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1973 | #2,861 | 12 | 0.0008% |
| 1972 | #3,636 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1971 | #2,571 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1969 | #2,219 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1965 | #3,554 | 6 | 0.0003% |
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 More Lists with Name Apollo
Most Popular Boy Names That Start with A
How the Name Apollo 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.
✦ Apollo's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Apollo's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.