boy's name
Eugene
yoo-JEEN
- Origin Greek
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 494,221
the United States
#944
2025 births
Eugene is a boy's name from the Greek for well-born, and it is the source of the word eugenics — a connection worth knowing, since the name long predates and has nothing to do with that movement. Its strongest market is France at 469th.
- Eugene is a name of Greek origin.
- Peaked in 1927, when 9,827 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 13,315 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Eugene over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 3,461 |
| 1890s | 4,365 |
| 1900s | 6,002 |
| 1910s | 35,435 |
| 1920s | 85,390 |
| 1930s | 71,411 |
| 1940s | 57,535 |
| 1950s | 48,479 |
| 1960s | 29,500 |
| 1970s | 16,704 |
| 1980s | 10,684 |
| 1990s | 6,132 |
| 2000s | 3,797 |
| 2010s | 2,870 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,575 |
What Eugene means
Eugene means well-born, or noble. The Greek joins a prefix meaning good or well to a root meaning born, so the sense is good birth in the sense of good lineage.
Where Eugene comes from
Eugene is the Greek Eugenios — eu, good or well, joined to genes, born. It was a common name in the Greek-speaking world and was carried by four popes and by Prince Eugene of Savoy, the general who broke Ottoman power in central Europe. The same two Greek elements were assembled independently in 1883 by Francis Galton to name eugenics, the movement for selective human breeding; the word and the name share roots but the name is roughly two thousand years older and carries none of that history. Oregon's city of Eugene is named for a settler, Eugene Skinner.
Eugene in use
Eugene peaked in the United States in 1927, when 9,827 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. Its strongest current market is France at 469th on 95 births, ahead of 944th in the United States on 249 and 3033rd in England and Wales, across 494,221 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. About 1 percent of recorded births are female.
How popular is Eugene?
In 2025, Eugene was given to 249 babies in the United States, ranking #944 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Eugene is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Eugene is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Eugène | Eugène is Eugene written with a grave accent in France, and the spelling parents there overwhelmingly choose: it ranks #469 in France, against #5,576 for Eugene. | 106,705 |
Names that peaked alongside Eugene
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Eugene also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Eugene over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Eugene
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Eugene in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Eugene
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Eugene — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Eugene
What does the name Eugene mean?
Well-born or noble — the Greek eu, good, joined to genes, born.
Is Eugene related to eugenics?
Only through shared Greek roots. The name is around two thousand years older than the word, which Francis Galton coined in 1883.
Is Gene short for Eugene?
Yes, and it has also been used as an independent name.
How popular is Eugene?
469th in France, its strongest market, and 944th in the United States.
Is Eugene a girl's or a boy's name?
Eugene is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Eugene?
Eugene has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Eugene?
Eugene is usually shortened to Gene.
Is Eugene a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Eugene currently ranks #469 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.