Achilles

Achilles comes from the Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Achilleus), of uncertain meaning, perhaps from ἄχος (achos), “pain,” or from the Achelous River. It was the name of a Greek legendary warrior and central figure in Homer’s Iliad, famed as the bravest of the Greek heroes in the war against the Trojans and later killed by an arrow to his heel, his only vulnerable spot. The name was also used as a personal name and was borne by a few early saints, including a Roman soldier martyred with Nereus in the 1st century.

Achilles rose from #910 to #857 for boys between 2017 and 2018. That year also produced its highest recorded birth count, at 257.