Homer
About Homer
Homer is a name of two halves, associated with the ancient Greek poet of the epic Odyssey and with the (often) doltish patriarch of The Simpsons. So does that make Homer a classic and scholarly choice — or is it clunky and cartoonish?
Derived from ancient Greek homeros, the name can mean "hostage, pledge" or more figuratively, "security". It was popular in the US from at least the 19h-century onwards and featured in the Top 1000 until the early 1980s when it fell into decline. In a recent count, just 21 boys were called Homer in the US, ranking it alongside Icarus, Howie, Essex, and Lyfe in the same year.
Interestingly, however, Homer has been a surprising celebrity pick on multiple occasions, selected by Richard Gere, Bill Murray, and Anne Heche. Simpsons creator Matt Groening also has both a father and a son named Homer.
Returning to its Greek roots, however, Homer is associated with the term "homeric", which implies work on an enormous scale, and with "homeric laughter" too, in reference ro the unrestrained laughter of the Greek gods.
In fact, 2026 might just have marked a turning point for the name, reacquainting it with its ancient roots, following the movie adaptation of The Odyssey in the same year.
Pronounced HO-mur.
As of October 2026, Homer ranked #4769 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #64 in 1893.
Editor: Sophie Kihm
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #3,561 | 30 | 15.6 |
| 2015 | #3,614 | 30 | 15.7 |
| 2016 | #4,241 | 24 | 12.6 |
| 2017 | #4,029 | 26 | 14 |
| 2018 | #3,470 | 32 | 17.6 |
| 2019 | #4,386 | 23 | 12.8 |
| 2020 | #3,606 | 30 | 17.4 |
| 2021 | #3,529 | 32 | 18.3 |
| 2022 | #3,368 | 35 | 20 |
| 2023 | #3,139 | 39 | 22.8 |
| 2024 | #4,105 | 26 | 15.1 |
| 2025 | #4,769 | 21 | 12.3 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Homer.
- Humphrey
- Elmer
- Seymour
- Clem
- Herbert
- Ned
- Bertie
- Orville
- Fritz
- Lowell
- Earl
- Moses
- Barney
- Ebenezer
- Neville
- Rudolph
- Guy
- Clifford
- Vernon
- Kermit
Homer on lists
Famous Homers
- Homer
ancient Greek epic poet
- Homer Calvin Davenport
American political cartoonist
- Homer Hadley Hickam
American novelist and NASA engineer
- Homer Rice
American NFL football player and coach
- Homer Reed Gilbert aka Knuckles Boyle
American NFL football player
- David Dewitt "Homer" Bailey
Jr., American baseball player
- Henry D. "Homer" Haynes
American country music singer of duo Homer & Jethro
- Homer Adolph Plessy
American civil rights activist
- Homer Mensch
American classical bassist
- Homer Ransford Watson
Canadian landscape painter
- Homer Murray (b. 1982)
son of actor Bill Murray
- Homer "Will" Groening (b. 1986)
son of artist/writer/director Matt Groening
- Homer James Jigme Gere (b. 2000)
son of American actor Richard Gere
- Homer Laffoon (b. 2002)
son of actress Anne Heche
- Winslow Homer
American landscape painter
Homer in pop culture
- Homer Jay Simpson
character on TV's "The Simpsons"
- Homer Simpson
character in book/film "The Day of the Locust"
- Homer Flagg
character in the film "Living It Up"
- Homer Wells
character in John Irving's "The Cider House Rules"
- Homer Yannos
character in John Marsden's "Tomorrow When the War Began"
- "Homer Price
" children's book series by Robert McCloskey and its main character
- Homer
sidekick of Snidely Whiplash on animated series "Rocky & Bullwinkle"
- Homer
character in the comic strip Non Sequitur by Wiley
- Homer Pigeon
character in Woody Woodpecker cartoons
- Homer
main character in the Pandora series by Carolyn Hennesy
- Homer Shaw
son of Aidan on TV's "Sex and the City"
- Homer
character on TV's The OA
- H.O.M.E.R.
character in Marvel Universe
- Homer Zuckerman
character from "Charlotte's Web"