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.

# 918 in the US

Eugene Rank in US Top 1000

# 641 on Nameberry

Eugene Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Eugene Popularity

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