Given name
Prometheus
“before”·“to think”
Prometheus is a masculine given name from Ancient Greek.
Original Ancient GreekΠρομηθεύς
Meaning & origin
What it means
Prometheus is built from elements meaning “before” and “to think”.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
In English usage, Prometheus developed from Προμηθεύς.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2013. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Prometheus through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 101
- 101 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2022
- 18 babies
- 2025
- 9
- #8,754 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +78%
- Rising fast
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 9 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 8,754 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Prometheus’s family of names
In English usage, Prometheus developed from the Ancient Greek form Προμηθεύς. Prometheus has a related form in Promethius. Prometheus has a related form in Promitheus.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Prometheus, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Archimedes
“a master of thought”
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Arius
“enduring life; everlasting; immortal”
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Kyros
“a leader or master”
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Pollux
“one who is crowned”
>99% boys
Icarus
>99% boys
Astraeus
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Ioannis
Ioannis is a masculine given name from Greek.
>99% boys