Athene

Girls' name

Variant of Athena

Athene has been given to 135 babies in the U.S. since 1909. 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 1923, with 10 recorded.

Babies named Athene, 2003

1 in 634,000

Athene over time, 1880–2025

Girls

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Athene: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Athena

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Athene means

Athene is a variant of Athena.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Athene is used in Greek Mythology.

Another recorded pronunciation is /a.tʰɛ̌ː.nɛː/ for Athene.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Athena.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 135 girls were recorded with the name Athene between 1909 and 2003. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1923; its best national rank was #2,236 in 1909.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

U.S. Social Security Administration: national name data and limitations

How common is Athene?

Athene had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2003, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2003: 1 in 634,000; 6 of 3,801,425 births
Among girls only: 1 in 304,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2003: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 439,159 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Athene sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2003 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 439,159 children born in 2003 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Athene. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Athenes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Athene was born before 1925 — so the typical Athene is around 100 today.

Median birth year: 1925; About 100 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 28.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 21.5%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 40; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 28.1% of all recorded uses (38).

Is Athene 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 1923 (10)
Years since peak: 102; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 19.4% average annual change
Best rank ever: #2,236; 1909

Spellings of Athene

Athene is not the most common spelling — Arlene is, with 63.2% against Athene's 0.06%.

Arlene63.2%143,010
Athena23.5%53,118
Allene3.9%8,762
Alene3.9%8,748
Kathlene1.5%3,500
Ailene0.97%2,197
Jhene0.79%1,799
Athina0.40%902

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.

Athene around the world

Where Athene 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
1996–2021
#4,634
in 2021
South Australia
2005–2005
#775
in 2005

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Athene by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #2,236; 1909
Peak year: 1923; 10 that year
First recorded: 1909
Last recorded: 2003
All-time count: 135
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Athene

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

Athelene Athalene Athlene Athira Athens Athenea Atheena Athyna Atheer Zelene Athea Cyrene Eirene Athina Athar Athleen Emilene Athziri Skylene Athenia Athalee Athylene Emalene Athalie

Sibling names for Athene

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

Filomena Novella Dorcas Vernice Bethel Rosina Kattie Magdalene

For a brother

Elwin Rubin Bertram Eldridge Trinidad Hobert Harland Walton

Explore around Athene

Top names of 1923, Athene's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1909 Girls' names starting with A