Homer

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Boy · Greek

Homer

Say it: HOH-mer

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Uncertain. Greek Homēros also meant 'hostage', but whether that explains the poet's name is unknown.

Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.

Used fairly often in 19th-century America.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1880s

In the United States

012318801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1893per 1,000 babies of that sex
  • 61,123 babies given this name since 1880
  • At its height in 1880, about 1 in 539 boys
  • 29 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
  2. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

EnglishAmericanGreek

The family of the name

GreekOmiros
ItalianOmero
SpanishHomero
GreekHomeros

Famous bearers

  • Homer, Greek epic poet
  • Winslow Homer, American painter

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • Ancient Greek literature and history (Homer, Herodotus, Plutarch and others)
  • National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • 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.