Erasmus
Erasmus was last recorded in 2021, when 6 babies were given it; 117 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 2021 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Erasmus by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Erasmus mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Erasmus is “a male given name from Ancient Greek, rare in English.”
From Medieval Latin Erasmus.
/ɪˈɹæzməs/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Erasmus?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #11,161, in 2021; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
8 babies in 1921, the peak
Erasmus peaked in 1921, when 8 boys were given it, #3,294 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6 | #11,161 | 3.4 |
| 2020 | 6 | #11,011 | 3.5 |
| 2011 | 6 | #11,254 | 3.2 |
| 2010 | 5 | #12,835 | 2.6 |
| 2000 | 5 | #10,913 | 2.5 |
| 1972 | 5 | #5,197 | 3.1 |
| 1970 | 5 | #4,933 | 2.7 |
| 1942 | 5 | #3,727 | 3.6 |
| 1926 | 6 | #3,849 | 5.4 |
| 1925 | 5 | #4,409 | 4.5 |
Every recorded year (21)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | 6 | #3,994 | 5.5 |
| 1921 | 8 | #3,294 | 7.3 |
| 1920 | 5 | #4,507 | 4.7 |
| 1919 | 7 | #3,521 | 7.1 |
| 1918 | 6 | #3,865 | 5.9 |
| 1916 | 5 | #4,106 | 5.6 |
| 1915 | 5 | #4,000 | 5.9 |
| 1913 | 5 | #2,961 | 9.8 |
| 1882 | 5 | #982 | 44.0 |
| 1881 | 6 | #809 | 59.6 |
| 1880 | 5 | #956 | 45.3 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Erasmus a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Erasmus has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 21 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Erasmus: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Erasmus, and how old are they?
An estimated 38 Americans named Erasmus and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026, too few to state an age range. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 211 people named Erasmus (4 women and girls, 207 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 30 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7.0 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
More about Erasmus and names like it
- The most given names of the 1920sErasmus peaked in 1921.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Erasmus since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Erasmus: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1921The year the most babies were named Erasmus.
- Names starting with EMost given first.