Herb
Herb was last recorded in 1993, when 6 babies were given it; 2,007 Americans have been recorded with it between 1884 and 1993 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Herb by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Herb mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Herb is “a diminutive of the male given name Herbert.”
/hɜː(ɹ)b/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Herb?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #8,007, in 1993; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
70 babies in 1947, the peak
Herb peaked in 1947, when 70 boys were given it, #832 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 6 | #8,007 | 3.1 |
| 1992 | 6 | #7,813 | 3.0 |
| 1991 | 5 | #8,686 | 2.5 |
| 1989 | 6 | #7,332 | 3.0 |
| 1988 | 6 | #6,723 | 3.1 |
| 1985 | 8 | #4,857 | 4.3 |
| 1984 | 6 | #5,855 | 3.3 |
| 1982 | 5 | #6,726 | 2.8 |
| 1981 | 6 | #5,780 | 3.3 |
| 1980 | 9 | #4,273 | 5.0 |
Every recorded year (77)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 7 | #4,790 | 4.3 |
| 1976 | 6 | #5,185 | 3.8 |
| 1975 | 7 | #4,509 | 4.5 |
| 1973 | 10 | #3,301 | 6.4 |
| 1972 | 13 | #2,729 | 8.0 |
| 1971 | 18 | #2,234 | 10.2 |
| 1970 | 23 | #1,869 | 12.4 |
| 1969 | 18 | #2,009 | 10.1 |
| 1968 | 19 | #1,861 | 10.9 |
| 1967 | 22 | #1,682 | 12.6 |
| 1966 | 18 | #1,845 | 10.1 |
| 1965 | 35 | #1,303 | 18.8 |
| 1964 | 44 | #1,163 | 22.1 |
| 1963 | 43 | #1,185 | 21.2 |
| 1962 | 55 | #1,030 | 26.6 |
| 1961 | 57 | #1,039 | 26.8 |
| 1960 | 66 | #931 | 31.0 |
| 1959 | 56 | #1,027 | 26.2 |
| 1958 | 62 | #964 | 29.2 |
| 1957 | 48 | #1,105 | 22.3 |
| 1956 | 28 | #1,494 | 13.2 |
| 1955 | 20 | #1,755 | 9.7 |
| 1954 | 15 | #2,075 | 7.4 |
| 1953 | 20 | #1,734 | 10.1 |
| 1952 | 19 | #1,771 | 9.8 |
| 1951 | 28 | #1,417 | 14.9 |
| 1950 | 24 | #1,512 | 13.4 |
| 1949 | 32 | #1,287 | 18.0 |
| 1948 | 42 | #1,097 | 23.9 |
| 1947 | 70 | #832 | 38.3 |
| 1946 | 59 | #857 | 36.3 |
| 1945 | 57 | #831 | 42.4 |
| 1944 | 51 | #890 | 37.4 |
| 1943 | 46 | #988 | 32.2 |
| 1942 | 65 | #799 | 47.1 |
| 1941 | 63 | #791 | 51.3 |
| 1940 | 46 | #944 | 39.7 |
| 1939 | 55 | #822 | 49.7 |
| 1938 | 47 | #923 | 42.4 |
| 1937 | 46 | #926 | 43.1 |
| 1936 | 42 | #958 | 40.5 |
| 1935 | 43 | #973 | 41.3 |
| 1934 | 34 | #1,138 | 32.9 |
| 1933 | 27 | #1,291 | 27.2 |
| 1932 | 28 | #1,305 | 26.8 |
| 1931 | 34 | #1,180 | 32.7 |
| 1930 | 38 | #1,143 | 34.6 |
| 1929 | 26 | #1,427 | 24.2 |
| 1928 | 30 | #1,338 | 27.1 |
| 1927 | 20 | #1,773 | 17.7 |
| 1926 | 18 | #1,866 | 16.2 |
| 1925 | 14 | #2,245 | 12.5 |
| 1924 | 13 | #2,399 | 11.5 |
| 1923 | 8 | #3,289 | 7.3 |
| 1921 | 9 | #3,087 | 8.2 |
| 1920 | 11 | #2,666 | 10.3 |
| 1919 | 7 | #3,558 | 7.1 |
| 1917 | 15 | #2,034 | 16.2 |
| 1916 | 11 | #2,451 | 12.4 |
| 1915 | 12 | #2,234 | 14.1 |
| 1914 | 7 | #2,771 | 10.7 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,366 | 13.7 |
| 1912 | 6 | #2,398 | 14.0 |
| 1909 | 5 | #1,563 | 30.5 |
| 1908 | 7 | #1,152 | 45.4 |
| 1895 | 5 | #1,159 | 42.6 |
| 1884 | 7 | #810 | 61.2 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Herb a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Herb has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 77 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Herb: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Herb, and how old are they?
An estimated 928 Americans named Herb and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (46% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 62 and 79. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 3,705 people named Herb (13 women and girls, 3,692 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,133 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3.3 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Herb rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
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 Herb born?
The states with the most babies named Herb are California, Ohio and Illinois, with 65% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 168 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Ohio | 54 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Illinois | 51 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| New York | 36 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Michigan | 30 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Washington | 27 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 17 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Missouri | 12 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Kansas | 10 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Texas | 6 | not ranked | 0.1× |
Where Herb is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Herb is most over-represented in California: since 1910 it was given 1.3 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 Herb with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Herb
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
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 Herb and names like it
- Compare Herb and GearldBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1940sHerb peaked in 1947.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Herb since 1910.
- The top names of 1947The year the most babies were named Herb.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Herb alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with HMost given first.