Athena

What Athena means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Athena yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Up from #157 in 2015 to #109 in 2025 in the US Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Athena?

US: Rising: up from #157 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #340 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2023, when 3,001 girls got the name (#76 that year). First in the US records in 1902.

How common

• About 1 in 649 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 488 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 746 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AK (10.28 per 1,000 girls), WY (6.17 per 1,000 girls), NM (4.92 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Athena is #109 in the US and #90 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Athena were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Aithana94 US
• Athina23 US · 11 E&W
• Aythana17 US
• Atheena6 US · 4 E&W
• Ethena5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Athene

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Athena

Girls

• Elena#42Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #106 in 2015, #42 in 2025. 5 letters, starting with a vowel
• Zara#212“flower”^*
• Cora#113“maiden”^*
• Lena#279“the Large River”^*
• Penelope#22possibly “duck”^*
• Ophelia#264possibly “help, aid, succour”^*

For a brother

• Azariah#472“Yah Has Helped”^*
• Theo#82Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #405 in 2015, #82 in 2025
• Orion#334possibly “heaven's light”^*
• Niko#325Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1962, with 5 babies
• Leonidas#510“son of Leon / lion”^*
• Solomon#422“peace”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Athena’s. Rank is US 2025.