Given name & surname
Primus
“first”
Primus is a masculine given name from Latin, meaning “first.” It is used in English and Old Czech.
Original LatinPrima
Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1881. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Primus through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 199
- 199 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1920
- 10 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 10 in 1920. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 199 as a first name in 2020; 2,461 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.
Primus’s family of names
In Latin usage, Primus has a feminine form in Prima.
The ring: across languages.
Across languages 6
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Primus
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Primus, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Rufus
“red(-haired )” · “a red-haired man”
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“brook”
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Ovide
Ovide is a masculine given name from Latin. It is used in French.
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Orban
Orban is a surname with more than one origin. It is used in English, Romanian, and Walloon.
>99% boys
Amis
“friend”
>99% boys
Emiel
“rival”
>99% boys
Livio
Livio is a masculine given name from Latin. It is used in Italian.
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Voight
Voight is a surname from German, ultimately from Latin.
>99% boys