Hercules
Hercules was given to 20 boys in 2025, #4,920 among boys’ names; 1,320 Americans have been recorded with it since 1908 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Hercules by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Hercules mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Hercules is “a male given name from Ancient Greek.” Its etymology gives the senses “Hera” (Ἥρα) and “year, season” (*yóh₁r̥) and “glory” (κλέος).
From Latin Herculēs, from Etruscan 𐌇𐌄𐌓𐌂𐌋𐌄 (hercle), from Ancient Greek Ἡρακλῆς (Hēraklês), apparently cognate of Ἥρα (Hḗra, “Hera”) and, according to Haudry, from Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (“year, season”) + κλέος (kléos, “glory”). Doublet of Heracles.
/ˈhɝːkjəliːz/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Hercules?
#4,920 among boys’ names, 2025
Hercules rose from #5,368 in 2015 to #4,920 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 8.9 to 11.7 per million.
30 babies in 2023, the peak
Hercules peaked in 2023, when 30 boys were given it, #3,746 among boys’ names. The 20 births of 2025 are 67% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20 | #4,920 | 11.7 |
| 2024 | 13 | #6,597 | 7.5 |
| 2023 | 30 | #3,746 | 17.5 |
| 2022 | 22 | #4,606 | 12.6 |
| 2021 | 21 | #4,681 | 12.0 |
| 2020 | 12 | #6,763 | 7.0 |
| 2019 | 10 | #7,843 | 5.6 |
| 2018 | 25 | #4,131 | 13.8 |
| 2017 | 12 | #6,843 | 6.5 |
| 2016 | 19 | #5,004 | 10.0 |
Every recorded year (104)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 17 | #5,368 | 8.9 |
| 2014 | 15 | #5,826 | 7.8 |
| 2013 | 6 | #11,231 | 3.2 |
| 2012 | 6 | #11,295 | 3.2 |
| 2011 | 5 | #13,006 | 2.6 |
| 2010 | 5 | #12,954 | 2.6 |
| 2006 | 7 | #9,943 | 3.4 |
| 2003 | 6 | #10,033 | 3.0 |
| 2000 | 7 | #8,518 | 3.6 |
| 1999 | 6 | #9,123 | 3.1 |
| 1998 | 6 | #8,885 | 3.1 |
| 1997 | 10 | #5,801 | 5.3 |
| 1996 | 6 | #8,309 | 3.2 |
| 1995 | 8 | #6,603 | 4.2 |
| 1994 | 6 | #8,133 | 3.1 |
| 1993 | 5 | #9,256 | 2.5 |
| 1992 | 7 | #6,945 | 3.5 |
| 1990 | 5 | #8,613 | 2.4 |
| 1989 | 10 | #4,954 | 5.0 |
| 1988 | 5 | #7,714 | 2.6 |
| 1987 | 9 | #4,702 | 4.8 |
| 1984 | 7 | #5,180 | 3.9 |
| 1983 | 9 | #4,275 | 5.0 |
| 1982 | 5 | #6,728 | 2.8 |
| 1981 | 5 | #6,657 | 2.8 |
| 1980 | 7 | #5,154 | 3.9 |
| 1979 | 5 | #6,428 | 2.9 |
| 1977 | 8 | #4,331 | 4.9 |
| 1976 | 8 | #4,162 | 5.1 |
| 1975 | 10 | #3,518 | 6.4 |
| 1974 | 6 | #4,865 | 3.8 |
| 1973 | 10 | #3,302 | 6.4 |
| 1972 | 11 | #3,040 | 6.8 |
| 1971 | 9 | #3,478 | 5.1 |
| 1969 | 11 | #2,757 | 6.2 |
| 1968 | 13 | #2,376 | 7.5 |
| 1967 | 6 | #3,714 | 3.4 |
| 1965 | 7 | #3,375 | 3.8 |
| 1964 | 10 | #2,734 | 5.0 |
| 1963 | 11 | #2,599 | 5.4 |
| 1962 | 11 | #2,578 | 5.3 |
| 1961 | 21 | #1,795 | 9.9 |
| 1960 | 19 | #1,876 | 8.9 |
| 1959 | 22 | #1,736 | 10.3 |
| 1958 | 13 | #2,306 | 6.1 |
| 1957 | 7 | #3,375 | 3.2 |
| 1956 | 15 | #2,129 | 7.1 |
| 1955 | 18 | #1,871 | 8.7 |
| 1954 | 20 | #1,727 | 9.8 |
| 1953 | 16 | #1,995 | 8.1 |
| 1952 | 18 | #1,824 | 9.3 |
| 1951 | 14 | #2,091 | 7.4 |
| 1950 | 20 | #1,673 | 11.2 |
| 1949 | 13 | #2,165 | 7.3 |
| 1948 | 20 | #1,677 | 11.4 |
| 1947 | 23 | #1,573 | 12.6 |
| 1946 | 15 | #1,916 | 9.2 |
| 1945 | 10 | #2,313 | 7.4 |
| 1944 | 14 | #1,919 | 10.3 |
| 1943 | 13 | #2,111 | 9.1 |
| 1942 | 10 | #2,445 | 7.2 |
| 1941 | 15 | #1,852 | 12.2 |
| 1940 | 16 | #1,761 | 13.8 |
| 1939 | 25 | #1,341 | 22.6 |
| 1938 | 15 | #1,856 | 13.5 |
| 1937 | 26 | #1,319 | 24.4 |
| 1936 | 14 | #1,921 | 13.5 |
| 1935 | 14 | #1,977 | 13.4 |
| 1934 | 11 | #2,324 | 10.7 |
| 1933 | 8 | #2,847 | 8.1 |
| 1932 | 23 | #1,486 | 22.0 |
| 1931 | 20 | #1,607 | 19.2 |
| 1930 | 17 | #1,855 | 15.5 |
| 1929 | 10 | #2,671 | 9.3 |
| 1928 | 29 | #1,364 | 26.2 |
| 1927 | 17 | #1,984 | 15.1 |
| 1926 | 16 | #2,022 | 14.4 |
| 1925 | 20 | #1,764 | 17.9 |
| 1924 | 9 | #3,122 | 7.9 |
| 1923 | 15 | #2,169 | 13.7 |
| 1922 | 18 | #1,920 | 16.5 |
| 1921 | 10 | #2,879 | 9.1 |
| 1920 | 24 | #1,564 | 22.5 |
| 1919 | 20 | #1,723 | 20.4 |
| 1918 | 10 | #2,768 | 9.9 |
| 1917 | 15 | #2,036 | 16.2 |
| 1916 | 17 | #1,803 | 19.1 |
| 1915 | 15 | #1,914 | 17.7 |
| 1914 | 9 | #2,341 | 13.7 |
| 1913 | 5 | #3,016 | 9.8 |
| 1912 | 8 | #1,953 | 18.6 |
| 1911 | 7 | #1,455 | 31.0 |
| 1910 | 5 | #1,698 | 25.7 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,290 | 38.9 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Hercules a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Hercules has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 104 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Hercules: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Hercules, and how old are they?
An estimated 709 Americans named Hercules and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (54% of everyone recorded); the median is 44 years old and half are between 10 and 68. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 791 people named Hercules (4 women and girls, 787 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 676 born in the U.S. The Census count is 17% above 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.
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 Hercules born?
The states with the most babies named Hercules are South Carolina, California and New York, with 94% of its births recorded by state since 1910; South Carolina is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | 240 | not ranked | 10.4× |
| California | 13 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| New York | 10 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Hawaii | 7 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Minnesota | 5 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Texas | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
Where Hercules is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Hercules is most over-represented in South Carolina: since 1910 it was given 10.4 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 Hercules 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 Hercules
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 Hercules and names like it
- Compare Hercules and DrexelBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sHercules peaked in 2023.
- South Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Hercules since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Hercules: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2023The year the most babies were named Hercules.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Hercules alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with HMost given first.