Ambrose is the English form of the Greek Ambrosios and means "immortal", the same word as ambrosia, the food of the gods. Saint Ambrose, the 4th-century bishop of Milan who baptized Augustine, made it a Christian name, and the American writer Ambrose Bierce is its best-known literary bearer. In the United States the name was a rarity for most of the 20th century; it re-entered the top 1000 in 2019, peaked at number 672 in 2021 and ranks number 735 in 2025.