Boy · Latin
Cornelius
Say it: kor-NEEL-yus
Meaning
From a Roman family name, perhaps derived from cornu 'horn'; the origin is uncertain.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Very common in the Netherlands as Cornelis, from where it reached New Netherland; also used for Irish Conchobhar.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1880s
In the United States
- 36,627 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1882, about 1 in 1,100 boys
- 108 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
- Ancient Rome750 BC to AD 476
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
LatinEarly ChristianDutchEnglishIrishAmericanFlemishGermanRomanian
The family of the name
| French | Corneille |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Cornelio |
| Italian | Cornelio |
| Portuguese | Cornélio |
| German | Cornelius |
| Polish | Korneliusz |
| Russian | Korney |
| Dutch | Cornelis |
Famous bearers
- Cornelius the centurion, early convert in Acts 10
- Cornelius Vanderbilt, American businessman
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Colonial records of the Americas
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- Roman literature and history (Livy, Cicero, Tacitus and others)
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.