# Erasmus (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/erasmus/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ɪˈɹæzməs/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 117 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 117 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Medieval Latin Erasmus. The EU student exchange programme is named after Erasmus of Rotterdam, and also a backronym for “European [Community] Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students”.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1918 | 6 | 3,866 |
| 1919 | 7 | 3,522 |
| 1920 | 5 | 4,509 |
| 1921 | 8 | 3,295 |
| 1922 | 6 | 3,996 |
| 1925 | 5 | 4,411 |
| 1926 | 6 | 3,851 |
| 1942 | 5 | 3,728 |
| 1970 | 5 | 4,935 |
| 1972 | 5 | 5,199 |
| 2000 | 5 | 10,921 |
| 2010 | 5 | 12,842 |
| 2011 | 6 | 11,261 |
| 2020 | 6 | 11,017 |
| 2021 | 6 | 11,167 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3 | 4,608 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Еразъм
- Danish: Erasmus
- French: Érasme
- Greek: Έρασμος
- Hungarian: Erazmus
- Italian: Erasmo
- Norwegian: Rasmus
- Portuguese: Erasmo
- Russian: Эра́зм
- Spanish: Erasmo

## People named Erasmus

- Erasmus, Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and theologian (1466-1536)
- Erasmus Darwin, English physician (1731-1802)
- Erasmus Reinhold, German astronomer and mathematician
- Erasmus Quellinus II, Flemish painter (1607-1678)
- Erasmus Alberus, German humanist, reformer and poet (ca 1500-1533)
- Johann Erasmus Kindermann, German composer and organist
- Peter Erasmus Müller, Danish historian, linguist, and clergy member
- Erasmus Quellinus the Elder, Flemish sculptor (1580-1640)
- Erasmus D. Keyes, Businessman, banker, and military general (1810-1895)
- Erasmus Widmann, German composer
- Rasmus Bartholin, Danish scientist, physician and grammarian (1625-1698)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.