Hugh
Hugh was given to 360 boys in 2025, #732 among boys’ names; 84,179 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 30,800 Americans named Hugh and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (37% of everyone recorded); the median is 62 years old and half are between 35 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Hugh by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Hugh mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Hugh is “a male given name from the Germanic languages.” Its etymology gives the sense “heart, mind” (*hugiz).
From the Old French aristocratic and saint’s name Hughe, brought to England by Normans, from a short form of Germanic names beginning with Proto-Germanic *hugiz (“heart, mind”), such as Hubert. Cognate with Old English hyġe (“mind, spirit, intellect”).
/hjuː/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Hugh?
#732 among boys’ names, 2025
Hugh rose from #848 in 2015 to #732 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.14 to 0.21 per 1,000.
1,626 babies in 1916, the peak
Hugh peaked in 1916, when 1,626 babies were given it (1,619 boys, #96 among boys’ names). The 360 births of 2025 are 22% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 360 | #732 | 0.21 |
| 2024 | 333 | #762 | 0.19 |
| 2023 | 323 | #785 | 0.19 |
| 2022 | 312 | #804 | 0.18 |
| 2021 | 343 | #742 | 0.20 |
| 2020 | 324 | #749 | 0.19 |
| 2019 | 287 | #799 | 0.16 |
| 2018 | 281 | #806 | 0.15 |
| 2017 | 264 | #838 | 0.14 |
| 2016 | 264 | #850 | 0.14 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 265 | #848 | 0.14 |
| 2014 | 255 | #866 | 0.13 |
| 2013 | 227 | #915 | 0.12 |
| 2012 | 220 | #930 | 0.12 |
| 2011 | 210 | #946 | 0.11 |
| 2010 | 206 | #961 | 0.11 |
| 2009 | 199 | #995 | 0.10 |
| 2008 | 195 | #1,003 | 0.10 |
| 2007 | 200 | #982 | 0.10 |
| 2006 | 184 | #1,001 | 0.09 |
| 2005 | 182 | #960 | 0.09 |
| 2004 | 184 | #922 | 0.09 |
| 2003 | 194 | #879 | 0.10 |
| 2002 | 191 | #866 | 0.10 |
| 2001 | 187 | #857 | 0.10 |
| 2000 | 171 | #907 | 0.09 |
| 1999 | 178 | #852 | 0.09 |
| 1998 | 203 | #773 | 0.11 |
| 1997 | 202 | #742 | 0.11 |
| 1996 | 193 | #764 | 0.10 |
| 1995 | 175 | #804 | 0.09 |
| 1994 | 168 | #815 | 0.09 |
| 1993 | 142 | #901 | 0.07 |
| 1992 | 161 | #830 | 0.08 |
| 1991 | 176 | #770 | 0.09 |
| 1990 | 193 | #733 | 0.09 |
| 1989 | 210 | #684 | 0.10 |
| 1988 | 186 | #687 | 0.10 |
| 1987 | 199 | #652 | 0.11 |
| 1986 | 191 | #646 | 0.10 |
| 1985 | 224 | #587 | 0.12 |
| 1984 | 199 | #604 | 0.11 |
| 1983 | 199 | #606 | 0.11 |
| 1982 | 230 | #565 | 0.13 |
| 1981 | 210 | #590 | 0.12 |
| 1980 | 227 | #574 | 0.13 |
| 1979 | 237 | #558 | 0.14 |
| 1978 | 240 | #534 | 0.15 |
| 1977 | 262 | #504 | 0.16 |
| 1976 | 242 | #516 | 0.15 |
| 1975 | 280 | #478 | 0.18 |
| 1974 | 294 | #468 | 0.19 |
| 1973 | 299 | #454 | 0.19 |
| 1972 | 402 | #393 | 0.25 |
| 1971 | 435 | #384 | 0.25 |
| 1970 | 486 | #368 | 0.26 |
| 1969 | 460 | #366 | 0.26 |
| 1968 | 494 | #351 | 0.28 |
| 1967 | 502 | #337 | 0.29 |
| 1966 | 566 | #311 | 0.32 |
| 1965 | 656 | #293 | 0.35 |
| 1964 | 722 | #291 | 0.36 |
| 1963 | 794 | #272 | 0.39 |
| 1962 | 813 | #270 | 0.39 |
| 1961 | 873 | #269 | 0.41 |
| 1960 | 903 | #266 | 0.42 |
| 1959 | 984 | #255 | 0.46 |
| 1958 | 1,031 | #243 | 0.49 |
| 1957 | 967 | #245 | 0.45 |
| 1956 | 957 | #236 | 0.45 |
| 1955 | 896 | #236 | 0.43 |
| 1954 | 943 | #230 | 0.46 |
| 1953 | 959 | #219 | 0.49 |
| 1952 | 977 | #210 | 0.50 |
| 1951 | 1,024 | #203 | 0.54 |
| 1950 | 959 | #206 | 0.54 |
| 1949 | 1,042 | #198 | 0.59 |
| 1948 | 1,039 | #191 | 0.59 |
| 1947 | 1,201 | #176 | 0.66 |
| 1946 | 1,088 | #174 | 0.67 |
| 1945 | 961 | #171 | 0.71 |
| 1944 | 1,064 | #165 | 0.78 |
| 1943 | 1,206 | #160 | 0.84 |
| 1942 | 1,254 | #154 | 0.91 |
| 1941 | 1,083 | #160 | 0.88 |
| 1940 | 1,060 | #157 | 0.91 |
| 1939 | 999 | #160 | 0.90 |
| 1938 | 1,121 | #146 | 1.0 |
| 1937 | 1,070 | #143 | 1.0 |
| 1936 | 1,074 | #142 | 1.0 |
| 1935 | 1,142 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1934 | 1,187 | #135 | 1.1 |
| 1933 | 1,118 | #141 | 1.1 |
| 1932 | 1,320 | #128 | 1.3 |
| 1931 | 1,326 | #131 | 1.3 |
| 1930 | 1,343 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1929 | 1,228 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1928 | 1,374 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1927 | 1,357 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1926 | 1,393 | #128 | 1.3 |
| 1925 | 1,386 | #127 | 1.2 |
| 1924 | 1,541 | #116 | 1.4 |
| 1923 | 1,412 | #123 | 1.3 |
| 1922 | 1,441 | #120 | 1.3 |
| 1921 | 1,485 | #120 | 1.3 |
| 1920 | 1,489 | #115 | 1.4 |
| 1919 | 1,417 | #114 | 1.4 |
| 1918 | 1,489 | #112 | 1.5 |
| 1917 | 1,403 | #110 | 1.5 |
| 1916 | 1,619 | #96 | 1.8 |
| 1915 | 1,318 | #111 | 1.6 |
| 1914 | 967 | #116 | 1.5 |
| 1913 | 754 | #115 | 1.5 |
| 1912 | 648 | #116 | 1.5 |
| 1911 | 307 | #121 | 1.4 |
| 1910 | 279 | #112 | 1.4 |
| 1909 | 260 | #104 | 1.6 |
| 1908 | 215 | #121 | 1.4 |
| 1907 | 212 | #113 | 1.4 |
| 1906 | 195 | #110 | 1.5 |
| 1905 | 200 | #107 | 1.5 |
| 1904 | 202 | #105 | 1.6 |
| 1903 | 193 | #101 | 1.6 |
| 1902 | 217 | #92 | 1.8 |
| 1901 | 192 | #91 | 1.8 |
| 1900 | 290 | #88 | 1.9 |
| 1899 | 209 | #88 | 2.0 |
| 1898 | 250 | #84 | 2.0 |
| 1897 | 213 | #86 | 1.9 |
| 1896 | 263 | #75 | 2.2 |
| 1895 | 243 | #80 | 2.1 |
| 1894 | 269 | #75 | 2.3 |
| 1893 | 241 | #78 | 2.1 |
| 1892 | 265 | #77 | 2.2 |
| 1891 | 233 | #73 | 2.3 |
| 1890 | 219 | #80 | 2.0 |
| 1889 | 225 | #78 | 2.0 |
| 1888 | 253 | #79 | 2.1 |
| 1887 | 250 | #69 | 2.5 |
| 1886 | 227 | #77 | 2.0 |
| 1885 | 257 | #73 | 2.4 |
| 1884 | 246 | #73 | 2.1 |
| 1883 | 215 | #74 | 2.1 |
| 1882 | 239 | #73 | 2.1 |
| 1881 | 219 | #70 | 2.2 |
| 1880 | 224 | #71 | 2.0 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Hugh a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Hugh has been given almost only to boys: 354 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Hugh: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Hugh, and how old are they?
30,800 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 37% of the 84,179 Americans ever recorded as Hugh. The median Hugh alive today is 62 years old; half are between 35 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 37,239 people named Hugh (80 women and girls, 37,159 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 34,428 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 3,880 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 11,800 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 5,310 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,900 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,060 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 3,810 |
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 Hugh born?
The states with the most babies named Hugh are New York, Georgia and Pennsylvania, with 21% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 5,704 | #703 | 0.8× |
| Georgia | 5,277 | #813 | 2.3× |
| Pennsylvania | 4,325 | #616 | 0.8× |
| Texas | 4,017 | #920 | 0.8× |
| North Carolina | 3,775 | #697 | 1.5× |
| Tennessee | 3,724 | #564 | 2.0× |
| California | 3,685 | #819 | 0.7× |
| Alabama | 2,818 | #433 | 1.5× |
| Ohio | 2,776 | #892 | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 2,737 | #553 | 0.7× |
Where Hugh is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Hugh is most over-represented in Georgia: since 1910 it was given 2.3 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 Hugh 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 Hugh
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 Hugh and names like it
- Compare Hugh and ArthurBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sHugh peaked in 1916.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Hugh since 1910.
- Germanic namesWiktionary’s origin for Hugh: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1916The year the most babies were named Hugh.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Hugh alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with HMost given first.