Hugh
Hugh is ranked 763rd among boys in 2024 (332 births). Its best rank was 69th, in 1887.
- Rank in 2024
- #763up 21 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 3320.02% of boys
- Peak year
- 19161,619 births
- Best rank
- #69in 1887
- Since 1880
- 83,466people given the name
The story in the numbers
83,466 boys have been named Hugh in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1916, with 1,619 births — 0.18% of all boys recorded that year.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 865 → 763).
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1938, and the 1920s alone account for 17%. It has spent 143 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 24 of them in the top 100.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Hugh | |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 2,355 | |
| 1890s | 2,405 | |
| 1900s | 2,176 | |
| 1910s | 10,201 | |
| 1920s | 14,107 | |
| 1930s | 11,699 | |
| 1940s | 10,998 | |
| 1950s | 9,697 | |
| 1960s | 6,784 | |
| 1970s | 3,178 | |
| 1980s | 2,075 | |
| 1990s | 1,791 | |
| 2000s | 1,887 | |
| 2010s | 2,479 | |
| 2020s | 1,634 |
In 1916, its biggest year
Hugh was the 96th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1916 were John, William, James, Robert and Joseph. See all of 1916.
Names that rose and fell with Hugh
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Arthurpeak 1921
- Georgepeak 1921
- Walterpeak 1918
- Lewispeak 1921
- Albertpeak 1921
- Frankpeak 1918
- Harmonpeak 1921
- Lymanpeak 1917
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.