Diogenes

Boys' name

Born of Zeus, through Diogenēs

Diogenes has been given to 153 babies in the U.S. since 1970. 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 1991, with 10 recorded.

Babies named Diogenes, 2011

1 in 523,000

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Diogenes: meaning, origin, and history

Born of Zeus, through Diogenēs

Ancient Greek and Latin

What Diogenes means

Diogenes belongs to the name family reached through Diogenes → Diogenēs → Διογένης. Its meaning is “born of Zeus”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Latin Diogenēs, from Ancient Greek Διογένης (Diogénēs).

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Diogenes is used in English and Polish. Its origins include Ancient Greek and Latin.

Diogenes comes through Latin Diogenēs and Ancient Greek Διογένης.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Διογένης and Diogenēs.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Diogenes is pronounced /daɪˈɒdʒəniːz/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 153 boys were recorded with the name Diogenes between 1970 and 2011. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1991; its best national rank was #3,950 in 1970.

How common is Diogenes?

Diogenes had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2011, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2011: 1 in 523,000; 7 of 3,657,935 births
Among boys only: 1 in 271,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2011: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 362,214 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Diogenes 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 2011 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 362,214 children born in 2011 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Diogenes. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Diogeness were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Diogenes was born before 1991 — so the typical Diogenes is around 34 today.

Median birth year: 1991; About 34 years old
Biggest decade: 1990s; 29.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 58.2%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 153; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1990s — 29.4% of all recorded uses (45).

Is Diogenes 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 1991 (10)
Years since peak: 34; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 18.7% average annual change
Best rank ever: #3,950; 1970

Where Diogenes is used

Across 1910–2025, Diogenes was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 512,455 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1New 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. Diogenes has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Diogenes 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: #3,950; 1970
Peak year: 1991; 10 that year
First recorded: 1970
Last recorded: 2011
All-time count: 153
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Diogenes

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

Dionysus Dionel Diovanni Diontay Diontre Dionisio Diontae Yohannes Dionne Dionisios Dionicio Hovhannes Sostenes Dionysios Barnes Diondre Dionis Diomedes Diogo Dione Dionta Dionysius Diomar Johannes

Sibling names for Diogenes

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

Shaniqua Chanelle Ileana Amberly Iesha Elvia Kacy Maegan

For a brother

Shay Jamil Laron Paris Coty Rico Malcom German

Explore around Diogenes

Top names of 1991, Diogenes's peak year The 1990s in full Other names that peaked in 1970 Boys' names starting with D