Eros
Masculine name of Greek origin meaning "romantic love" or "desire".
Name Census estimates that about 1,868 living Americans carry the first name Eros. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Eros today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eros births was 2022 (144 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eros. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Eros with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Eros is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 183,487 Americans
Peak year
2022
144 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,487
Tracked since 1974
Census
Eros in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,340 people with the first name Eros, which placed it at #10,085 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,085
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,340 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
69.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eros
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eros is Hispanic at 69.2%. The next largest groups are White (20.2%) and Black (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Eros described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Eros at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino69.2% · 927
- White20.2% · 271
- Black or African American3.8% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 49
- Two or more races2.6% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 7
Popularity
Eros: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eros from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 663 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eros by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Eros during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eros' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Eros, while Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 87 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eros
The name Eros has its origins in ancient Greek mythology and culture, dating back to around the 8th century BC. It is derived from the Greek word "eros," which means "love" or "desire." The name is associated with the Greek god of love and fertility, who was often depicted as a handsome, winged youth carrying a bow and arrows.
In Greek mythology, Eros was considered one of the primordial deities, born from Chaos, the primeval emptiness. He played a crucial role in the creation of the world and was responsible for igniting love and passion among gods and mortals alike. The name Eros appears frequently in ancient Greek literature, including the works of Homer, Hesiod, and Sappho.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Eros can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, who lived around 700 BC. In his celebrated work "Theogony," Hesiod described Eros as one of the primordial deities, born from Chaos.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Eros. One of the most famous was Eros of Armenia (c. 450 BC - 392 BC), a renowned military commander and statesman who played a significant role in the Achaemenid Empire. Another prominent figure was Eros of Naxos (fl. 300 BC), a Greek sculptor known for his intricate and lifelike statues.
In the Renaissance period, the name Eros gained popularity among artists and intellectuals who were fascinated by classical Greek culture. One notable figure from this era was Eros Strozzi (1508-1582), an Italian humanist and poet who wrote extensively on classical themes.
Another historical figure with the name Eros was Eros Agoglia (1795-1862), an Italian painter and sculptor who was known for his neoclassical works and his involvement in the Italian Romantic movement.
Finally, Eros Nucleu (1888-1967) was a Romanian sculptor and painter who gained recognition for his avant-garde style and his contributions to the modern art movement in Romania.
While the name Eros has its roots in ancient Greek culture, it has been used across various civilizations and time periods, often associated with love, passion, and artistic expression. The enduring legacy of this name reflects the profound impact of Greek mythology on Western culture and the continued fascination with the concept of love personified.
People
Eros + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eros as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Eros: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eros?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,868 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eros going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 183,487 US residents.
Is Eros a common name?
We classify Eros as "Rare". It ranks above 93.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,886 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eros most popular?
The single biggest year for Eros was 2022, when 144 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eros is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eros in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,340 people with the name Eros, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,085 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Eros in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Eros?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eros leans strongly male. 1,314 people counted with this name were male (97.7%), compared with 31 female bearers (2.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Eros?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eros is Hispanic at 69.2%. The next largest groups are White (20.2%) and Black (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Eros most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Eros in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.2% (927 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Eros in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eros a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eros in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Eros still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eros in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Eros can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Eros?
See how many Americans are named Eros on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.