Ancient Greek names are quietly turning up on American birth certificates — and Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster The Odyssey may be about to give the trend an epic boost.
Picture kindergarten roll call a few years from now.
“Oliver?”
“Here.”
“Liam?”
“Here.”
“Atlas?”
“Here.”
“Odysseus?”
“Here.”
“Telemachus?”
Okay, maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
But perhaps not by much.
Something interesting has been happening to American baby names. Names once more likely to appear in a mythology textbook than on a preschool cubby are becoming surprisingly mainstream.
Atlas. Athena. Apollo. Ares. Penelope.
And now, with Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey putting Homer’s nearly 3,000-year-old epic back at the center of popular culture, baby-name watchers are wondering whether Odysseus, Calypso and perhaps even Telemachus could be next.
A recent Parents.com story about Odyssey-inspired baby names highlighted dozens of possibilities drawn from Homer and the wider world of Greek mythology.
But look beyond the clever baby-name lists and there is actual data showing that something much bigger has already been happening.
Consider Atlas.
In 2014, just 411 American boys were named Atlas. By 2025, that number had exploded to 4,413, according to data drawn from Social Security Administration birth records. Atlas rose from No. 639 among American boys’ names to No. 75 in just eleven years.
That means Atlas is no longer some eccentric choice reserved for classics professors.
There are thousands of little Atlases running around America.
Penelope has gone even further.
The famously clever and steadfast wife of Odysseus is now simply an American baby-name superstar.
In 2025, 6,225 girls were named Penelope, making it the 22nd most popular girls’ name in the United States. And across the entire period from 2020 through 2025, Penelope ranks No. 24 among American girls’ names, according to the Social Security Administration.
Homer would probably be pleased.
Athena has followed a similar path.
In 2014, 1,692 American girls received the name. By 2023, Athena had climbed as high as No. 76 nationally. It ranked No. 109 in 2025, when 2,477 newborn girls were named for the Greek goddess of wisdom and strategy.
Apollo has also traveled a remarkable distance. Just 288 American boys were named Apollo in 2014. In 2025, there were 708.
And then there is Ares.
Yes, the god of war.
In 2014, 295 boys received the name. By 2025, that number had climbed to 1,157, putting Ares at No. 290 nationally.
Then things start getting more interesting.
Odysseus is actually being used.
Only six American boys received the name in 2009. In 2025, there were 44.
That will not threaten Liam anytime soon, but Odysseus has undeniably traveled from the pages of Homer onto American birth certificates.
And apparently some parents decided even Odysseus wasn’t enough.
They named the child Odyssey.
Twenty-seven American girls received the name Odyssey in 2025, with the name also appearing among boys.
Yes, somewhere in America there is presumably a parent saying, “Odyssey, put your shoes on. We’re late.”
And Then There Is Telemachus
Here, civilization has shown somewhat more restraint.
Telemachus remains extraordinarily rare in American birth statistics — rare enough that it does not appear among the commonly published rankings.
The Social Security Administration suppresses names with fewer than five occurrences in its underlying national files in order to protect privacy.
So we cannot yet announce the Telemachus boom.
But 2026 may prove to be an important dividing line.
Because all those Atlases, Penelopes, Athenas, Apollos, Areses and Odysseuses were born before Christopher Nolan’s movie arrived in theaters.
That matters.
The Odyssey opened in the United States on July 17, 2026, starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus, with Zendaya as Athena and Charlize Theron as Circe.
And audiences certainly showed up.
By late August, Nolan’s The Odyssey had earned more than $1.4 billion worldwide, turning a story composed nearly three millennia ago into one of the biggest movies of 2026.
In other words, Hollywood didn’t create America’s fascination with ancient Greek names.
It walked straight into a trend that was already happening.
For years, parents have been moving away from the idea that a child’s name has to sound conventionally familiar. Mythology offers exactly what many modern parents seem to be looking for: names that are distinctive without being invented, unusual but ancient, and connected to stories far larger than themselves.
Atlas carries the heavens.
Athena embodies wisdom and strategy.
Apollo evokes music, prophecy and the arts.
Penelope represents intelligence, perseverance and loyalty.
And Odysseus?
Well, naming your son after the man who spent ten years trying to get home certainly sets expectations.
The fascinating question now is what happens after millions of moviegoers have heard these names spoken by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Popular culture has a long history of influencing baby names. Films, television shows, celebrities and fictional characters can take an unfamiliar name and suddenly make it sound perfectly normal.
And Christopher Nolan has just introduced millions of people to names like Odysseus, Penelope, Telemachus and Circe all over again.
The Social Security Administration’s 2026 baby-name data will eventually provide the first meaningful snapshot of children born during the year of The Odyssey.
That is when we get to look for Odysseus.
Calypso.
Circe.
Perhaps even Ithaca.
And, of course, Telemachus.
So enjoy your classroom full of Liams and Olivers while you can.
The Greeks may be coming.
