Hans
Hans was given to 146 boys in 2025, #1,325 among boys’ names; 15,682 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 11,400 Americans named Hans and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (72% of everyone recorded); the median is 43 years old and half are between 25 and 58.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Hans by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Hans mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Hans is “a male given name from German.” Its etymology gives the sense “John” (Johannes).
Borrowed from German Hans (occasionally used in English), a medieval short form of Johannes (“John”).
/ˈhæns/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Hans?
#1,325 among boys’ names, 2025
Hans rose from #1,421 in 2015 to #1,325 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 63.1 to 85.5 per million.
271 babies in 1970, the peak
Hans peaked in 1970, when 271 boys were given it, #494 among boys’ names. The 146 births of 2025 are 54% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 146 | #1,325 | 0.09 |
| 2024 | 145 | #1,325 | 0.08 |
| 2023 | 112 | #1,561 | 0.07 |
| 2022 | 133 | #1,400 | 0.08 |
| 2021 | 137 | #1,352 | 0.08 |
| 2020 | 117 | #1,465 | 0.07 |
| 2019 | 123 | #1,423 | 0.07 |
| 2018 | 122 | #1,438 | 0.07 |
| 2017 | 145 | #1,260 | 0.08 |
| 2016 | 132 | #1,351 | 0.07 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 121 | #1,421 | 0.06 |
| 2014 | 134 | #1,313 | 0.07 |
| 2013 | 98 | #1,581 | 0.05 |
| 2012 | 91 | #1,679 | 0.05 |
| 2011 | 67 | #2,026 | 0.04 |
| 2010 | 104 | #1,546 | 0.05 |
| 2009 | 113 | #1,475 | 0.06 |
| 2008 | 108 | #1,508 | 0.05 |
| 2007 | 115 | #1,417 | 0.06 |
| 2006 | 119 | #1,363 | 0.06 |
| 2005 | 129 | #1,228 | 0.06 |
| 2004 | 112 | #1,320 | 0.06 |
| 2003 | 128 | #1,167 | 0.06 |
| 2002 | 98 | #1,346 | 0.05 |
| 2001 | 127 | #1,113 | 0.07 |
| 2000 | 132 | #1,076 | 0.07 |
| 1999 | 153 | #947 | 0.08 |
| 1998 | 150 | #942 | 0.08 |
| 1997 | 141 | #951 | 0.07 |
| 1996 | 125 | #1,000 | 0.07 |
| 1995 | 152 | #886 | 0.08 |
| 1994 | 141 | #921 | 0.07 |
| 1993 | 149 | #869 | 0.08 |
| 1992 | 171 | #796 | 0.09 |
| 1991 | 161 | #813 | 0.08 |
| 1990 | 189 | #738 | 0.09 |
| 1989 | 183 | #727 | 0.09 |
| 1988 | 160 | #749 | 0.08 |
| 1987 | 164 | #713 | 0.09 |
| 1986 | 178 | #672 | 0.10 |
| 1985 | 179 | #656 | 0.10 |
| 1984 | 185 | #628 | 0.10 |
| 1983 | 174 | #649 | 0.10 |
| 1982 | 215 | #589 | 0.12 |
| 1981 | 222 | #573 | 0.12 |
| 1980 | 211 | #598 | 0.12 |
| 1979 | 194 | #613 | 0.11 |
| 1978 | 182 | #618 | 0.11 |
| 1977 | 205 | #589 | 0.12 |
| 1976 | 194 | #586 | 0.12 |
| 1975 | 196 | #575 | 0.13 |
| 1974 | 233 | #518 | 0.15 |
| 1973 | 228 | #521 | 0.15 |
| 1972 | 224 | #530 | 0.14 |
| 1971 | 266 | #497 | 0.15 |
| 1970 | 271 | #494 | 0.15 |
| 1969 | 257 | #477 | 0.14 |
| 1968 | 242 | #489 | 0.14 |
| 1967 | 268 | #464 | 0.15 |
| 1966 | 233 | #496 | 0.13 |
| 1965 | 222 | #511 | 0.12 |
| 1964 | 252 | #498 | 0.13 |
| 1963 | 238 | #518 | 0.12 |
| 1962 | 212 | #546 | 0.10 |
| 1961 | 203 | #553 | 0.10 |
| 1960 | 206 | #548 | 0.10 |
| 1959 | 180 | #583 | 0.08 |
| 1958 | 185 | #567 | 0.09 |
| 1957 | 140 | #649 | 0.06 |
| 1956 | 158 | #604 | 0.07 |
| 1955 | 150 | #604 | 0.07 |
| 1954 | 123 | #654 | 0.06 |
| 1953 | 121 | #648 | 0.06 |
| 1952 | 82 | #776 | 0.04 |
| 1951 | 75 | #814 | 0.04 |
| 1950 | 65 | #845 | 0.04 |
| 1949 | 61 | #879 | 0.03 |
| 1948 | 45 | #1,051 | 0.03 |
| 1947 | 49 | #1,031 | 0.03 |
| 1946 | 35 | #1,183 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 43 | #979 | 0.03 |
| 1944 | 50 | #900 | 0.04 |
| 1943 | 50 | #946 | 0.04 |
| 1942 | 73 | #749 | 0.05 |
| 1941 | 60 | #822 | 0.05 |
| 1940 | 69 | #740 | 0.06 |
| 1939 | 57 | #807 | 0.05 |
| 1938 | 76 | #695 | 0.07 |
| 1937 | 69 | #735 | 0.06 |
| 1936 | 76 | #681 | 0.07 |
| 1935 | 73 | #714 | 0.07 |
| 1934 | 92 | #626 | 0.09 |
| 1933 | 80 | #653 | 0.08 |
| 1932 | 83 | #671 | 0.08 |
| 1931 | 83 | #657 | 0.08 |
| 1930 | 101 | #612 | 0.09 |
| 1929 | 87 | #662 | 0.08 |
| 1928 | 68 | #790 | 0.06 |
| 1927 | 89 | #687 | 0.08 |
| 1926 | 96 | #644 | 0.09 |
| 1925 | 81 | #720 | 0.07 |
| 1924 | 61 | #891 | 0.05 |
| 1923 | 66 | #836 | 0.06 |
| 1922 | 62 | #877 | 0.06 |
| 1921 | 68 | #837 | 0.06 |
| 1920 | 63 | #855 | 0.06 |
| 1919 | 61 | #841 | 0.06 |
| 1918 | 78 | #724 | 0.08 |
| 1917 | 86 | #643 | 0.09 |
| 1916 | 85 | #632 | 0.10 |
| 1915 | 98 | #573 | 0.12 |
| 1914 | 73 | #588 | 0.11 |
| 1913 | 72 | #509 | 0.14 |
| 1912 | 56 | #535 | 0.13 |
| 1911 | 26 | #601 | 0.12 |
| 1910 | 27 | #548 | 0.14 |
| 1909 | 29 | #476 | 0.18 |
| 1908 | 16 | #669 | 0.10 |
| 1907 | 14 | #720 | 0.10 |
| 1906 | 16 | #602 | 0.12 |
| 1905 | 17 | #579 | 0.13 |
| 1904 | 17 | #547 | 0.13 |
| 1903 | 16 | #559 | 0.13 |
| 1902 | 17 | #528 | 0.14 |
| 1901 | 14 | #542 | 0.13 |
| 1900 | 18 | #590 | 0.12 |
| 1899 | 17 | #465 | 0.16 |
| 1898 | 27 | #381 | 0.22 |
| 1897 | 21 | #416 | 0.19 |
| 1896 | 16 | #522 | 0.13 |
| 1895 | 22 | #420 | 0.19 |
| 1894 | 19 | #446 | 0.16 |
| 1893 | 14 | #519 | 0.12 |
| 1892 | 28 | #364 | 0.23 |
| 1891 | 25 | #343 | 0.25 |
| 1890 | 17 | #446 | 0.15 |
| 1889 | 25 | #353 | 0.23 |
| 1888 | 27 | #354 | 0.22 |
| 1887 | 23 | #345 | 0.23 |
| 1886 | 20 | #398 | 0.18 |
| 1885 | 33 | #291 | 0.31 |
| 1884 | 26 | #348 | 0.23 |
| 1883 | 28 | #313 | 0.27 |
| 1882 | 27 | #338 | 0.24 |
| 1881 | 23 | #343 | 0.23 |
| 1880 | 21 | #376 | 0.19 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Hans a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Hans has been given almost only to boys: 5 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Hans: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Hans, and how old are they?
11,400 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 72% of the 15,682 Americans ever recorded as Hans. The median Hans alive today is 43 years old; half are between 25 and 58.
The 2020 Census counted 17,537 people named Hans (53 women and girls, 17,484 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 11,187 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.6 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 219 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,830 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,200 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,610 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,850 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,650 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Hans born?
The states with the most babies named Hans are California, New York and Minnesota, with 42% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Minnesota is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 1,866 | #1,324 | 1.2× |
| New York | 1,359 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Minnesota | 719 | #456 | 2.4× |
| Wisconsin | 659 | #536 | 2.0× |
| Illinois | 607 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 488 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Texas | 488 | #1,268 | 0.4× |
| Washington | 484 | #935 | 1.8× |
| Florida | 457 | #1,703 | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 411 | #1,039 | 0.5× |
Where Hans is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Hans is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1910 it was given 2.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Hans with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 3 names spelled alike, given to 16,357 babies since 1880, Hans is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 146 of their 162 babies (90%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Hans
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Bartholomew | 4,271 | |
| Alonzo | 46,109 | |
| Jefferson | 24,440 | |
| Chauncey | 10,193 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Hans and names like it
- Compare Hans and HaynesBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sHans peaked in 1970.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Hans since 1910.
- German namesWiktionary’s origin for Hans: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1970The year the most babies were named Hans.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Hans alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with HMost given first.