Given name & surname
August
“one who is venerable; majestic”
August is used as a given name, a surname, and a nickname. One Latin interpretation is “one who is venerable; majestic.”
Original LatinAugustus
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Latin interpretation is “one who is venerable; majestic.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
How it developed
In Norwegian Bokmål usage, August is a short form of Augustus. In Slovak usage, August is an affectionate form of Augustín.
The story
The name has historical associations with royal or imperial families.
August through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 74,452
- 68,182 boys · 6,270 girls
- Most popular year
- 2025
- 4,226 babies
- 2025
- 4,226
- #81 for boys · #962 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +53%
- Rising fast
Boys, girls and both
The balance of boys and girls given this name has shifted over time. Recent births are 91% boys.
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 3,958 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 81 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 58.8% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 268 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (336). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 32,401 as a first name in 2020; 6,243 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
August’s family of names
In Norwegian Bokmål usage, August is a short form of Augustus. In English usage, August shares a linguistic root with the Latin form Avis. In Polish usage, August has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Augusto.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
August has relatives in 30 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
Latinwhere August comes from · 3 names
Nicknames & forms 26
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Augustusvariant · German, Norwegian Bokmål
- Augustinvariant · German
- Augustovariant · Italian, Spanish
- Augustevariant · French
- Auggiediminutive · English
- Augievariant
- Gustdiminutive · Luxembourgish, gmw-ecg
- Gustadiminutive · Czech
Show 18 moreShow fewer
- Akupet form · Finnish
- Gustíkdiminutive · Czech
- Agushort form · Estonian
- Gustlvariant · German
- Augeavariant
- Augeevariant
- Augeyvariant
- Augyvariant
- Augivariant
- Agostovariant
- Augvariant
- Aagustvariant · German, hrx
- Guciodiminutive · Polish
- Gustidiminutive · Luxembourgish
- Ëstidiminutive · Luxembourgish
- Augustínfull form · Slovak
- Gustovariant · Slovak
- Aug.variant · German
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 36
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Aviscognate · Latin
- AugustinusLatin
- Austinrelated form
- Augustinerelated form
- Gusequivalent
- AustenDutch
- Augustafeminine form
- Agostinoequivalent
Show 28 moreShow fewer
- Augustynequivalent
- Agustiequivalent
- Avguštinequivalent
- Augustinasequivalent
- Avgustinequivalent
- Awgustequivalent
- Avgustequivalent
- ܐܓܘܣܛܘܣequivalent
- Agustíequivalent
- Daoustequivalent
- Agguborrowing · Greenlandic
- Ավգուստderivative · Armenian
- ʻAukakeborrowing · Hawaiian
- Agustínequivalent
- Agustequivalent
- ÁgostHungarian
- АвгустUkrainian, Russian
- Авгоустcu
- авъгоустъcu
- AugustsLatvian
- Augùstcsb
- Ágústcognate · Icelandic
- Aukusticognate · Finnish
- AŭgustoEsperanto
- Авгостъcu
- АўгустBelarusian
- Aujussksh
- aùstuSardinian
People named August
- August KroghDanish physiologist (1874–1949)
- August MackeGerman painter of the expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (1887–1914)
- Augustus II the StrongKing of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and Elector of Saxony (1670–1733)
- August Ferdinand MöbiusGerman mathematician and astronomer (1790–1868)
- August Wilhelm SchlegelGerman poet, translator, critic, and writer (1767–1845)
- August WeismannGerman evolutionary biologist (1834-1914)
- August von MackensenGerman field marshal (1849–1945)
- August SchleicherGerman philologist (1821–1868)
- August Heinrich Hoffmann von FallerslebenGerman scholar and poet (1798–1874)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love August, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Usher
“from the mouth of the river” · “from. the mouth of the river”
>99% boys
Prince
“the royal son”
>99% boys
Oliver
“olive tree”
>99% boys
Henry
“home” · “power”
>99% boys
Vanajyt
“king of the forest”
—
Hank
“the ruler of the house” · “home”
>99% boys
Ávila
“bird”
—
Ascariz
“ash tree; spear”
—