Name Awesome

Socrates

Boys' name

Whole, unwounded, safe + power

Socrates has been given to 725 babies in the U.S. since 1914. 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 1922, with 17 recorded.

Babies named Socrates, 2022

1 in 308,000

Socrates over time, 1880–2025

Boys
0510152018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Socrates: meaning, origin, and history

Whole, unwounded, safe + power

Ancient Greek

What Socrates means

Socrates means “whole, unwounded, safe + power”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Socrates is used in Ancient Greek (Latinized).

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈsɑk.ɹə.ˌtiz/ and /ˈsɒk.ɹə.ˌtiːz/ for Socrates.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Via Latin Socrates, from Ancient Greek Σωκράτης (Sōkrátēs). Doublet of Sokratis.

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Socrates is used in English. Its origins include Ancient Greek.

Socrates comes through Latin Socrates and Ancient Greek Σωκράτης.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Sokratis.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Socrates is pronounced /ˈsɑkɹətiz/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 725 boys were recorded with the name Socrates between 1914 and 2022. Its highest annual count was 17 in 1922; its best national rank was #1,989 in 1931.

How common is Socrates?

Socrates had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2022, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2022
1 in 308,000
11 of 3,385,755 births
Among boys only
1 in 159,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2022
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
213,349 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Socrates 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 2022 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 213,349 children born in 2022 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Socrates. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Socratess were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Socrates was born before 1982 — so the typical Socrates is around 43 today.

Median birth year
1982
About 43 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
15.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
27.9%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
505
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 15.6% of all recorded uses (113).

Is Socrates 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 1922 (17)
Years since peak
103
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,989
1931

Where Socrates is used

Across 1910–2025, Socrates was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 700,007 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Massachusetts1 in —
  3. 3New 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. Socrates has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Socrates around the world

Where Socrates 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
    2018–2018
    #4,749
    in 2018
  • Canada
    2024–2024
    #3,231
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1961–2009
    #708
    in 2009

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

Socrates 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
#1,989
1931
Peak year
1922
17 that year
First recorded
1914
Last recorded
2022
All-time count
725
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Socrates

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

SocorroYatesGatesOrestesBatesEstesPrintesSocttSocheatCervantesCortesCletesDantesOrantesMatesPanagiotesMartesAtes

Sibling names for Socrates

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

Explore around Socrates

Top names of 1922, Socrates's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1931Boys' names starting with S