Apollo

Greek mythology name

"destroyer; strength; father's light"

Apollo Origin and Meaning

The name Apollo is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "destroyer; strength; father's light".

With mythological names rising, the handsome son of Zeus and god of medicine, music, and poetry among many other things might offer an interesting, and melodic option. Similar in style to Atlas and Atticus and similar in sound to Arlo, Paolo, Paul, and Ollie, Apollo entered the US Top 1000 back in 2012, and was propelled upwards after it was chosen by Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale in 2014.

The exact source of the name is contested, though it is believed to have either Indo-European roots, giving it the meaning "strength", or to be adapted from the name of another god, Appaliunas, meaning "father's light". Alternatively, it may come from the Greek apollymi meaning "to destroy".

In mythology terms, Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto, and also the twin of the goddess Artemis. Along with the aforementioned poetry, music, and medicine, he was also considered the god of prophecy, law, beauty, wisdom, and the sun.

Other cool associations include NASA's Apollo program, from 1961-72, that succeeded in putting the first humans on the moon when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their lunar module and walked on the moon's surface. There's also the historic Apollo Theatre in Harlem, on whose stage the careers of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Artetha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, the Jackson 5, and countless others were launched.

In a recent year, it ranked in the Top 800 in England and Wales, while in the US, it placed just outside the Top 400.

Apollo Rank in US Top 1000

# 414 in the US

Apollo Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 286 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Apollo

• 414 US 2024
• 286 Nameberry 2025
• 340 Future 2028
• 729 England 2023
• 31 Dogs 2023
• 32 Cats 2023

20 Names Similar to Apollo

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

• Sirius
• Artemis
• Lucifer
• Orion
• Zephyr
• Aries
• Draco
• Cosmo
• Jupiter
• Lucius
• Achilles
• Phoenix
• Salem
• Nero
• Atlas
• Loki
• Perseus
• Adonis
• Eros
• Osiris

Famous People Named Apollo

• Apollo Korzeniowski Polish writer and father of Polish,English novelist Joseph Conrad
• Apollo Price American pro video gamer
• Apollo Bowie Flynn Rossdale (b. 2014) son of singers Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale
• Apollo Rouvas (b. 2016) son of singer Sakis Rouvas and model Katia Zygouli

The name Apollo in Pop Culture

• Apollo Greek God of the sun, prophecy, plagues, healing, medicine, sports, Archery , poetry, young boys, music and the lyre.
• Apollo Creed Rocky Balboa's main rival from the "Rocky" movie series
• Apollo NASA space program
• Apollo Adama main character in Battlestar Galactica tv series
• Apollo character in the Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus and the Trials of Apollo series (Rick Riordan)
• Apollo character in the novel "Goddess of Light" (PC Cast)
• Apollo Justice character in the "Ace Attorney" video game series
• "Apollo " song by Last Dinosaurs
• Apollo a eagle villager from Animal Crossing
• Apollo the main antagonist of Lore Olympus