Eugene

Greek

"wellborn, noble"

Eugene Origin and Meaning

The name Eugene is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "wellborn, noble".

Eugene is a classic that has rather lost its way. On the one hand, it's a grandpa, even great-grandpa name that hasn't been one of the cool kids recently—or to quote Jim Carrey, who bears this name in the middle spot, "You can never get too cool with a name like Eugene." The hero of Disney's Tangled felt the same way, when he changed his birth name of Eugene to the more romantic Flynn.

And yet! Eugene has had a long history of popularity, as a Top 50 name from 1880 to the 1940s. In fact, it has never been out of the Top 1000, making it a classic that's still given to hundreds of boys each year. It's even stopped falling in the last few years, and we could speculate that one day it will return to style.

Also on the plus side, there were four popes and several saints named Eugene. A literary namesake is playwright Eugene O'Neill, and in art history Eugene Delacroix. In addition, there is the classic Russian novel by Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, and Eugene is the name Neil Simon used for his stand-in in three autobiographical plays, starting with Brighton Beach Memoirs.

The female form, Eugenie, is chic and elegant, belonging to one of the daughters of the Duke and Duchess of York.

Eugene Rank in US Top 1000

# 918 in the US

Eugene Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 641 on Nameberry

Eugene Popularity

• 918 US 2023
• 641 Nameberry 2024
• 924 Future 2028

20 Names Similar to Eugene

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Eugene.

• Ernest
• Edgar
• Leonard
• Bernard
• Lawrence
• Earl
• Irving
• Roy
• Frank
• Edwin
• Hector
• Alfred
• Clarence
• Albert
• Irene
• Harold
• Fred
• Stanley
• Douglas
• Seymour

Famous People Named Eugene

• Eugene Gladstone O'Neill American playwright
• (Ferdinand Victor) Eugène Delacroix French Romantic painter
• Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs American socialist politician
• Eugene Merle Shoemaker American geologist
• Eugène Simon French naturalist
• Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy American politician and poet
• Eugene Ormandy Hungarian,American conductor and violinist
• Eugene Louis "Gore" Vidal American novelist
• Eugene "Gene" Cernan American astronaut
• Eugene Amano American NFL football player
• Eugene Sims American NFL football player
• Eugene Monroe American NFL football player
• Eugene Ionesco (born Eugen Ionescu) Romanian playwright
• Eugene Mirman Russian,American comedian
• Eugene Osment American actor
• Eugene Wigner Hungarian American theoretical physicist, mathematician and Nobel prize winner
• Eugene Lee Yang actor and writer/producer/director for The Try Guys
• Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin American Astronaut
• James Eugene "Jim" Carrey Canadian actor
• Eugene Pip (b. 2012) son of actress Billie Piper
• Eugene (b. 2017) son of actor Oscar Isaac and Elvira Lind
• Eugene "Gene" Curran Kelly American dancer, actor of film, stage, and television, singer, film director, producer, and choreographer
• Eugene Levy (b. 1946) Canadian comedic actor was in all the American Pie films

Eugene in Pop Culture

• Eugene Wrayburn character in Charles Dickens' "Our Mutual Friend"
• Eugene Arlington main character in Patrick Stumph's film "Moustachette"
• Eugene Tannenbaum from the movie "Evan Almighty"
• Eugene Fitzherbert aka Flynn Rider character in Disney's "Tangled"
• Eugene "Arseface" Root character in DC Universe's "Preacher"
• Mr. Eugene H. Krabs character from "SpongeBob Squarepants"
• Eugene Horowitz character from animated TV series "Hey Arnold"
• Lucas Eugene Scott main character on "One Tree Hill"
• Eugene Porter character on "The Walking Dead"
• Eugene Roe Easy Company Medic in "Band of Brothers"
• Eugene "Gene" Belcher character in FOX animated series "Bob's Burgers"
• Eugene Felsnic nerdy character in musical "Grease"
• Eugene Meltsner character in radio programme "Adventures in Odyssey"
• Eugene Tackleberry gun loving character in the "Police Academy" Films & Animated Series