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Boy · Latin
Primus
Say it: PRY-mus
Meaning
Latin for 'first'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Found as a Roman cognomen and in early martyr lists; the Italian form Primo was used into the 20th century for a first son.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 188 babies given this name since 1881
- At its height in 1881, about 1 in 20,100 boys
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
- Ancient Rome750 BC to AD 476
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
| Italian | Primo |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Primo |
Famous bearers
- Primo Levi, Italian writer
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Roman inscriptions and tombstones
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- Medieval and Renaissance Italian records, such as the Florentine tax survey of 1427
- Colonial records of the Americas
- 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.