Diminutive of Augustus or August, from Latin augustus meaning 'great, magnificent, venerable'.
Auggie is the irresistible diminutive of August, Augustus, or Augustina — names rooting back to the Latin augustus, meaning 'great,' 'venerable,' or 'consecrated,' a word the Roman Senate attached to Gaius Octavius after he consolidated the empire, transforming a personal name into a title of divine authority. The first Augustus presided over the Pax Romana, patronized Virgil and Ovid, and gave his name to the eighth month. Every Auggie trails this history at a comfortable, playful distance.
J. Palacio's 2012 novel Wonder, in which August 'Auggie' Pullman — a boy with a facial difference entering school for the first time — becomes one of children's literature's most beloved protagonists. Palacio's Auggie is funny, brilliant, kind, and achingly human, and the book's moral architecture ('Choose kind') made his name synonymous with empathy and courage.
The 2017 film adaptation, starring Jacob Tremblay, cemented this association for millions more readers and viewers. Apart from Wonder, Auggie has ridden the broader wave of vintage nickname-names — names like Archie, Hattie, and Millie — that feel simultaneously antique and completely fresh. Used on its own, not as a nickname, Auggie has a warmth and bounce that lengthier August can lack in daily life.
It is a name that seems to grin at you. Its rarity on official birth certificates makes it a gem for parents who love the sound but want to sidestep the slightly formal weight of its parent names.