boy's name
Homer
HOH-mur
- Origin Greek
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 61,289
Homer means hostage, which makes it the third pledge name in this group alongside Gage and Giselle — and the ancient tradition that the poet was blind may have been read backward out of a dialect word rather than recorded from life.
- Homer is a name of Greek origin.
- Peaked in 1920, when 1,734 babies were given the name.
- After peaking in the 1920s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
- Today about 1 in 157,878 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Homer 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 | 2,213 |
| 1890s | 2,647 |
| 1900s | 2,921 |
| 1910s | 11,551 |
| 1920s | 15,297 |
| 1930s | 9,472 |
| 1940s | 6,995 |
| 1950s | 4,617 |
| 1960s | 2,502 |
| 1970s | 1,308 |
| 1980s | 747 |
| 1990s | 363 |
| 2000s | 207 |
| 2010s | 256 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 183 |
What Homer means
Homer means a hostage, or one who is joined. The Greek homeros carries both senses, and neither describes a quality of the person so much as a position they were placed in.
Where Homer comes from
Homer is the Greek Homeros, a hostage — from a root meaning joined together, since a hostage joined two parties to an agreement. A competing ancient tradition read it as blind, apparently from a dialect word, and that reading is probably why the poet is depicted blind rather than the other way round. Whether one Homer composed the Iliad and Odyssey has been argued since antiquity. American use owes much to the nineteenth-century fashion for classical names.
Homer in use
Homer peaked in the United States in 1920, when 1,734 babies were registered, and our data marks it reviving. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 4854th in the United States on 21 births, across 61,289 lifetime births. Our records carry it from 1880, and the revival is from a very low base.
How popular is Homer?
In 2025, Homer was given to 21 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Homer 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.
Names that peaked alongside Homer
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Homer also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Homer over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Homer 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.
- Italian
- Omero
Sibling names for Homer
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Homer — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Homer
What does the name Homer mean?
A hostage — the Greek homeros, from a root meaning joined together.
Was Homer really blind?
The tradition may have been read backward out of a dialect word meaning blind, rather than recorded from life.
Did one person write both poems?
It has been argued since antiquity and is still unsettled.
Is Homer coming back?
Our data marks it reviving, though from a very low base at 4854th.
How popular is the name Homer?
In 2025, Homer was given to 21 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Is Homer a girl's or a boy's name?
Homer is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Homer?
Homer has 2 syllables.
When was Homer most popular?
Homer peaked in 1920, when 1,734 babies were given the name. After peaking in the 1920s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
Is Homer a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Homer currently ranks #4,854 in the United States. After peaking in the 1920s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.