Athanasius

#5,052 in 2025Boys' name

Immortal

Athanasius has been given to 259 babies in the U.S. since 2001. In 2025 it ranked #5,052 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 25 recorded.

Babies named Athanasius, 2025

1 in 174,000

Athanasius over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Athanasius: meaning, origin, and history

Immortal

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Athanasius means

Athanasius means “immortal”, associated with athanásios.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from Latin Athanasius, from Ancient Greek Ἀθανάσιος (Athanásios), from ἀθανάσιος (athanásios, “immortal”), from ἀθάνατος (athánatos, “immortal”). Doublet of Afanasy and tansy.

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Athanasius is used in English.

Athanasius comes through Latin Athanasius and Ancient Greek Ἀθανάσιος.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ἀθανάσιος, Afanasy and tansy.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Athanasius is pronounced /ˌæθəˈneɪʃəs/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 259 boys were recorded with the name Athanasius between 2001 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 25 in 2023; its best national rank was #4,203 in 2024.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #5,726 in 2020 to #5,052 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #5,526 in 2015 to #5,052 in 2025.

How common is Athanasius?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 174,000; 19 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 89,900; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #5,052; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 120,943 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Athanasius 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 2025 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 120,943 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Athanasius. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Athanasiuss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Athanasius was born before 2019 — so the typical Athanasius is around 6 today.

Median birth year: 2019; About 6 years old
Biggest decade: 2020s; 43.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 259; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2020s — 43.2% of all recorded uses (112).

Is Athanasius 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: −849; Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago: +674; Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago: +474; Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago: 1.19×; More babies than then
Share of its own peak: 76.0%; Peak was 2023 (25)
Years since peak: 2; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 28.9% average annual change
Best rank ever: #4,203; 2024

Spellings of Athanasius

Athanasius is not the most common spelling — Athanasios is, with 83.2% against Athanasius's 16.8%.

Athanasios83.2%1,284
Athanasius16.8%259

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Athanasius around the world

Where Athanasius 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.

South Australia
1953–1966
#536
in 1966

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Athanasius by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #5,052
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Up 674
Best rank ever: #4,203; 2024
Peak year: 2023; 25 that year
First recorded: 2001
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 259
Count in 2025: 19

Names similar to Athanasius

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

Sibling names for Athanasius

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

For a sister

Karleigh Leonor Keren Kendyl Hayleigh Shaniya Leigha Shoshana

For a brother

Evans Hamilton Caesar Brennen Tobin Jerimiah Jorden Henri

Explore around Athanasius

Top names of 2023, Athanasius's peak year The 2020s in full Other names that peaked in 2024 Boys' names starting with A