Augustus

About Augustus

Augustus is a Latin name meaning “exalted” or “venerable,” best known as the title of Rome's first emperor. Its three-syllable English form, aw-GUS-tus, has a strong central stress, while Gus and Augie offer familiar shorter forms. Sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens supplies another major historical association.

Meaning and Roman Title

The Latin name is connected with augeo, “to increase.” Augustus expressed dignity and elevated status, and became an honorific title with a particularly important place in Roman political history.

The Senate granted the title to Octavian in 27 BC. He was Julius Caesar's adopted son and had emerged as the dominant figure after Rome's civil wars.

Augustus presented his power through established Roman offices rather than taking the title of king. The new name helped express his authority while preserving the language of the republic.

After his death, Augustus continued as a title for later emperors. Its use as a personal name therefore carries the history of both one ruler and an enduring imperial honor.

The Emperor's Image

Roman portraits of Augustus were designed to communicate a carefully controlled public identity. An official portrait type created after he took the title was reproduced in many versions across the empire.

These images combined the appearance of a particular man with idealized qualities drawn from earlier art. They are a reminder that Augustus was a public name, distributed through monuments and portraits as well as through political institutions.

The surviving portraits help make the name immediately recognizable in the visual history of ancient Rome.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens

American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens created important public monuments during the late nineteenth century. His works include the Robert Gould Shaw and Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment Memorial in Boston.

The bronze memorial was installed on Boston Common in 1897. It commemorates Shaw and the Black soldiers he commanded during the American Civil War, placing the mounted officer alongside marching members of the regiment.

Saint-Gaudens also designed the twenty-dollar gold coin first issued in 1907. His work consequently appears at very different scales, from major civic sculpture to an object held in the hand.

His first name gives Augustus a modern artistic association alongside the emperor's Roman one. In both settings, the name is connected with images intended for public view.

Pronunciation and Related Forms

Augustus is pronounced aw-GUS-tus in English, with stress on the second syllable. It has three spoken syllables, despite the substantial eight-letter spelling.

Gus and Augie are established short forms. August is a close relative, and Augusta is the feminine form. Augusto is used in Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

The full name keeps the Latin us ending, while the shorter forms change its rhythm considerably. Gus reduces it to one syllable; Augie preserves the opening sound in two.

American Popularity

Augustus was given to 159 boys in the United States in 2000 and 290 in 2010. Its largest annual total came in 2024, with 791 boys and a rank of 409th.

In 2025, 783 boys received the name, placing it 407th. Its recent American use is much higher than at the start of the century, with annual totals close to its largest recorded count.

How popular is Augustus?

In 2025, Augustus ranked #407 among boys in the United States, with 783 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for boys in 1880; its largest annual count was 791 in 2024. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.