Hart
A male name of German origin meaning "stag" or "deer".
Name Census estimates that about 973 living Americans carry the first name Hart. It is a predominantly male name (93.6% of registrations). The average person named Hart today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hart births was 2022 (62 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hart. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Hart with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
973
~ 1 in 352,266 Americans
Peak year
2022
62 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,957
Tracked since 1888
Census
Hart in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 934 people with the first name Hart, which placed it at #13,065 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#13,065
National first-name rank
People counted
934
934 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hart
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hart is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.7%) and Hispanic (6.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Hart described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Hart at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.7% · 716
- Black or African American6.7% · 63
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 58
- Two or more races5.5% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Hart
Hart leans heavily male at 93.6% of total registrations, but 79 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Hart as a male name
- Ranked #2,957 in 2024
- 42 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (51 births)
Hart as a female name
- Ranked #12,596 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hart leans strongly male. 786 people counted with this name were male (84.1%), compared with 149 female bearers (15.9%).
Popularity
Hart: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hart from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 254 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hart by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Hart during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Harts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Hart, while Virginia, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hart
The name Hart has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "heorot," which means "stag" or "deer." This connection to the animal world likely stems from the Anglo-Saxon culture's reverence for nature and hunting.
The earliest recorded use of Hart as a given name dates back to the 11th century in England. It was particularly popular among the nobility and upper classes, who often drew inspiration from the natural world when naming their children.
In the Middle Ages, the name Hart gained symbolic significance, representing qualities such as strength, swiftness, and grace – attributes associated with the noble stag. It was also seen as a symbol of fertility and virility, further solidifying its appeal among the aristocracy.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Hart was Hart Craphart, a renowned English poet and playwright who lived from 1540 to 1609. His works, which often explored themes of love and nature, contributed significantly to the Renaissance literary canon.
Another prominent figure was Hart Benton, an American painter and muralist born in 1889. His iconic depictions of rural life and the American Midwest earned him a place among the most influential artists of the 20th century.
In the realm of sports, Hart Lee Byerly, born in 1912, was a celebrated American football player who excelled as a halfback for the University of Southern California. His exceptional athleticism and leadership on the field earned him numerous accolades and a place in the College Football Hall of Fame.
The name Hart also found its way into the world of politics, as exemplified by Hart Brown, an American senator from New Mexico who served from 1933 to 1949. His advocacy for conservation and environmental protection left a lasting impact on the state's natural resources.
Lastly, Hart Crane, born in 1899, was a celebrated American poet whose works, such as "The Bridge," explored themes of modernity, industrialization, and the human condition. His innovative use of language and poetic form solidified his place as a pioneering figure in 20th-century literature.
These notable individuals, spanning various eras and fields, have contributed to the rich history and enduring appeal of the name Hart, imbuing it with associations of strength, grace, and a deep connection to the natural world.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Hart
People
Hart + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hart as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hart: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hart?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 973 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hart going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 352,266 US residents.
Is Hart a common name?
We classify Hart as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,232 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hart most popular?
The single biggest year for Hart was 2022, when 62 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hart is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hart in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 934 people with the name Hart, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,065 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Hart in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Hart?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hart leans strongly male. 786 people counted with this name were male (84.1%), compared with 149 female bearers (15.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Hart?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hart is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.7%) and Hispanic (6.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Hart most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hart in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.7% (716 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Hart in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hart a male name?
Yes, 93.6% of people registered as Hart in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Hart still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hart in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Hart can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Hart?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Hart at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.