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Algernon

Boys' name

Possibly having mustaches

Algernon has been given to 985 babies in the U.S. since 1886. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1972, with 29 recorded.

Babies named Algernon, 2016

1 in 734,000

Algernon over time, 1880–2025

Boys
010203018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Algernon: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly having mustaches

French

What Algernon means

Algernon may mean “having mustaches”, associated with gernons.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Old French als gernons (“having mustaches”), from als (contraction of a and les) + gernon, variant of grenon (“mustache”), from Vulgar Latin *granonem (“facial hair, mustache”), from Proto-Germanic *granō (“awn, beard-hair, hair-tips, mustache”), related to Old High German grana, granu (“mustache”), Old Norse grǫn (“mustache, (upper) lip”), Old English granu (“mustache”). Mustaches were often a prominent cultural component for men of some early medieval Germanic societies (contrary to popular culture, beards were uncommon), whence the name originates from. However, the particular distinction owing this name vis-a-vis other families is unclear.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Algernon (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Algernon is used in English. Its origins include French.

Algernon comes through Old French als gernons, Vulgar Latin *granonem and Proto-Germanic *granō.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 985 boys were recorded with the name Algernon between 1886 and 2016. Its highest annual count was 29 in 1972; its best national rank was #965 in 1886.

How common is Algernon?

Algernon had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2016, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2016
1 in 734,000
5 of 3,669,531 births
Among boys only
1 in 380,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2016
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
508,706 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Algernon sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2016 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 508,706 children born in 2016 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Algernon. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Algernons were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Algernon was born before 1971 — so the typical Algernon is around 54 today.

Median birth year
1971
About 54 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
20.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
12.9%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
721
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 20.2% of all recorded uses (199).

Is Algernon rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1972 (29)
Years since peak
53
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
28.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#965
1886

Where Algernon is used

Across 1910–2025, Algernon was most concentrated in Georgia — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 563,288 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Georgia1 in 100,000
  2. 2Florida1 in —
  3. 3New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Algernon has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Algernon around the world

Where Algernon ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2002–2022
    #3,450
    in 2022

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0.

Algernon by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#965
1886
Peak year
1972
29 that year
First recorded
1886
Last recorded
2016
All-time count
985
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Algernon

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ElchononBohannonMckinnonKennonGlennonBrennonBrannonAlgerZenonKanonAlgieChannonMackinnonCanonKeenonKannonShanonGannonDannonAlgenisKainonLennonMckennonAlgirdas

Sibling names for Algernon

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Algernon

Top names of 1972, Algernon's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1886Boys' names starting with A