Haskell
Small nook or promontory in woodland areas.
Name Census estimates that about 1,130 living Americans carry the first name Haskell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Haskell today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Haskell births was 1919 (104 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Haskell. 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.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 303,322 Americans
Peak year
1919
104 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,410
Tracked since 1883
Census
Haskell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,066 people with the first name Haskell, which placed it at #11,857 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
#11,857
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,066 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Haskell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haskell is White at 77.4%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Haskell 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 Haskell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.4% · 825
- Black or African American12.9% · 138
- Two or more races5.2% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Haskell
Out of the 3,710 babies given the name Haskell since 1880, 99.7% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Haskell as a male name
- Ranked #9,283 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1919 (104 births)
Haskell as a female name
- Ranked #5,410 in 1924
- 5 female births in 1924
- Peak: 1917 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Haskell leans strongly male. 1,050 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 21 female bearers (2.0%).
Popularity
Haskell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Haskell from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 867 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Haskell 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 Haskell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Haskells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Haskell, while West Virginia, Mississippi, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 149 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Haskell
The name Haskell is an English surname that has been adopted as a given name. Its origins can be traced back to the Old English words "haesc," meaning "hassock" or "tuft of grass," and "scealu," meaning "hut" or "temporary dwelling." The name was likely used to describe someone who lived in a humble abode or a person who worked with grasses or reeds.
In the Middle Ages, the name appeared as a surname in various forms, such as Haskel, Haskell, and Hascall. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was listed as "Hascuil."
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Haskell. One of the earliest was Sir Haskell Pricket (c. 1290-1355), an English knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War and was known for his bravery in battle.
In the 16th century, Haskell Hewett (1530-1592) was an English clergyman and author who published several religious works and served as the rector of a church in Warwickshire.
During the American Revolutionary War, Haskell Fowler (1745-1823) was a soldier who fought alongside George Washington and later became a successful farmer and landowner in Connecticut.
In the 19th century, Haskell V. Hart (1810-1892) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a judge and a member of the California State Assembly.
Another notable figure was Haskell Curry (1900-1982), an American mathematician and logician who made significant contributions to the fields of combinatory logic and functional programming. The programming language Haskell was named in his honor.
While the name Haskell has its roots in Old English and has been used as a surname for centuries, it has also gained popularity as a given name, particularly in the United States. Its unique sound and historical connections have made it a distinctive choice for parents seeking a name with depth and character.
People
Haskell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Haskell 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
Haskell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Haskell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,130 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Haskell 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 303,322 US residents.
Is Haskell a common name?
We classify Haskell as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,710 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Haskell most popular?
The single biggest year for Haskell was 1919, when 104 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Haskell is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Haskell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,066 people with the name Haskell, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,857 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 Haskell 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 Haskell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Haskell leans strongly male. 1,050 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 21 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Haskell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haskell is White at 77.4%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Haskell most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Haskell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.4% (825 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 Haskell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Haskell a male name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Haskell 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 Haskell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Haskell 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 Haskell 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 Haskell?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.