Primus

Boys' name

First

Primus has been given to 199 babies in the U.S. since 1881. 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 1920, with 10 recorded.

Babies named Primus, 2023

1 in 552,000

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Primus: meaning, origin, and history

First

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Primus means

Primus means “first”, associated with prīmus.

Origin, language, and formation

Primus is used in English and Old Czech.

Primus comes through Latin Prīmus.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Primus is pronounced /ˈpɹaɪməs/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 199 boys were recorded with the name Primus between 1881 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1920; its best national rank was #974 in 1881.

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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Primus?

Primus had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2023, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2023: 1 in 552,000; 6 of 3,314,783 births
Among boys only: 1 in 285,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2023: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 382,940 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Primus 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 2023 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 382,940 children born in 2023 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Primus. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Primuss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Primus was born before 1945 — so the typical Primus is around 80 today.

Median birth year: 1945; About 80 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 24.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 8.5%; Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950: 92; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 24.1% of all recorded uses (48).

Is Primus 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 1920 (10)
Years since peak: 105; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Steady; 6.3% average annual change
Best rank ever: #974; 1881

Spellings of Primus

Primus is not the most common spelling — Arius is, with 35.6% against Primus's 6.3%.

Arius35.6%1,120
Remus30.4%956
Primo27.8%874
Primus6.3%199

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.

Primus 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: #974; 1881
Peak year: 1920; 10 that year
First recorded: 1881
Last recorded: 2023
All-time count: 199
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Primus

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

Priest Prithvi Prish Priyansh Rasmus Priam Primo Artimus Priyan Pride Princetyn Sheamus Priyam Decimus Artemus Pritesh Maxamus Elmus Shamus Prinston Maxximus Printis Remus Almus

Sibling names for Primus

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

Norine Vina Mozelle Marcelle Oleta Syble Adella Mittie

For a brother

Junius Dock Rupert Orin Otha Hilton Casimir Edd

Explore around Primus

Top names of 1920, Primus's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1881 Boys' names starting with P