How rare is the name Hugh?

37,239 people in the United States have the first name Hugh, about 1 in 8,111. It ranks #1,110 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

HUGH

#1,110

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
37,239
About
1 in 8,111
This common or more
71.5%
Who bears it

Of the 37,239 people named Hugh, 82.7% reported their origin as White, 9.9% as Black and 2.7% as two or more races. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Hugh peaked in 1916, when 1,626 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1916
Births that year
1,626
In 2025*
360 ▼78%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 84,179 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Hugh by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #188. The largest share of babies named Hugh, 28.3%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#1882,355
1890s#2482,405
1900s#3152,176
1910s#26710,279
1920s#28814,248
1930s#30911,779
1940s#37011,019
1950s#5039,717
1960s#6476,792
1970s#9963,177
1980s#1,4022,080
1990s#1,8291,791
2000s#2,1321,887
2010s#1,9032,479
2020s#1,5771,995
Before 19016%
Greatest Generation 1901–2728.3%
Silent Generation 1928–4525%
Baby boom 1946–6421.6%
Generation X 1965–807.2%
Millennials 1981–963.6%
Generation Z 1997–123.7%
2013 and later4.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Hugh is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Hugh has been most common in Georgia (2.6×), Tennessee (2.4×), and Mississippi (2.3×), and least common in Hawaii (0.19×).

72,251 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Hugh

#1,108 Raven · 37,274#1,109 Allie · 37,273#1,111 Mona · 37,167#1,112 Ashlee · 37,143

Spelled almost the same

One first name in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Hugh, most common first.

#808 Hugo · 59,062

Also a last name

As a last name, Hugh ranks #22,950 of 156,621, with 1,146 people. See Hugh as a last name

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