Platon
A masculine name derived from the Greek meaning "broad" or "wide".
Name Census estimates that about 188 living Americans carry the first name Platon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Platon today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Platon births was 2014 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Platon. 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 Platon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
188
~ 1 in 1,823,161 Americans
Peak year
2014
23 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,126
Tracked since 2010
Census
Platon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 203 people with the first name Platon, which placed it at #38,074 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
#38,074
National first-name rank
People counted
203
203 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Platon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Platon is White at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Platon 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 Platon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.4% · 153
- Hispanic or Latino17.7% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 7
- Black or African American2.0% · 4
- Two or more races1.5% · 3
Popularity
Platon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Platon from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 139 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Platon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Platon 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 Platon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Platons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Platon
The name Platon traces its origins to the ancient Greek language and culture, where it was derived from the word "platys," meaning "broad" or "flat." This name was first recorded in ancient Greek texts and historical records dating back to the 5th century BC.
One of the most famous bearers of this name was the renowned Greek philosopher Platon, better known by his Latinized name, Plato (c. 428-348 BC). He was a student of Socrates and the founder of the Academy, one of the earliest institutions of higher learning in the Western world. Plato's philosophical works, such as "The Republic" and "Symposium," have had a profound impact on Western thought and continue to be widely studied and discussed to this day.
Another prominent historical figure with the name Platon was Platon Levshin (1737-1812), a Russian Orthodox archbishop and theologian. He was known for his efforts in promoting education and enlightenment in Russia during the 18th century.
In the field of literature, Platon Krechetov (1919-1991) was a Soviet Russian writer and playwright, best known for his novels and plays that explored the themes of rural life and the struggles of the working class.
Platon Oyunski (1893-1939) was a prominent Buryat writer and ethnographer from the Russian Empire (now part of Russia and Mongolia). His works played a significant role in preserving and promoting the culture and traditions of the Buryat people.
Platon Morozov (1925-1995) was a Soviet and Russian painter, renowned for his landscape paintings that captured the essence of the Russian countryside and its people. His works are celebrated for their vivid colors and expressive brushwork.
The name Platon has a rich historical legacy, with notable bearers contributing significantly to various fields, including philosophy, religion, literature, and the arts. Its origins can be traced back to ancient Greek culture, where it was associated with concepts of breadth and expansiveness, reflecting the intellectual and creative pursuits of many who carried this name throughout history.
People
Platon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Platon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Platon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Platon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 188 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Platon 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 1,823,161 US residents.
Is Platon a common name?
We classify Platon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 189 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Platon most popular?
The single biggest year for Platon was 2014, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Platon is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Platon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 203 people with the name Platon, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,074 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 Platon 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 Platon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Platon appears almost entirely male. Of the 205 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Platon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Platon is White at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Platon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Platon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.4% (153 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 Platon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Platon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Platon 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 Platon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Platon 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 Platon 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 people are named Platon?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.