Severus

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Severus

Say it: seh-VEER-us

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Latin severus 'stern, serious, strict'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

A frequent Roman cognomen that also appears among early bishops and saints.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

0510152018801900192019401960198020002020Peak 2016per million babies of that sex
  • 119 babies given this name since 2011
  • At its height in 2016, about 1 in 59,200 boys
  • 11 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. Ancient Rome750 BC to AD 476

Used by

LatinItalian

The family of the name

ItalianSevero
SpanishSevero

Famous bearers

  • Septimius Severus, Roman emperor
  • Severus Alexander, Roman emperor

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • Roman literature and history (Livy, Cicero, Tacitus and others)
  • Roman inscriptions and tombstones
  • 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.