Hastings
From an English place name, possibly meaning "stony ground; clearing overgrown with brushwood."
Name Census estimates that about 61 living Americans carry the first name Hastings. It is a predominantly male name (93.2% of registrations). The average person named Hastings today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hastings births was 2023 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hastings. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hastings. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
61
~ 1 in 5,618,924 Americans
Peak year
2023
13 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,284
Tracked since 1912
Census
Hastings in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 216 people with the first name Hastings, which placed it at #36,618 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
#36,618
National first-name rank
People counted
216
216 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hastings
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hastings is White at 67.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.4%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Hastings 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 Hastings at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.6% · 146
- Black or African American20.4% · 44
- Two or more races4.6% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Hastings
Hastings leans heavily male at 93.2% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Hastings as a male name
- Ranked #9,284 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (13 births)
Hastings as a female name
- Ranked #17,495 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 2014 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hastings on both sides of the split. Of the 216 people counted with this name, 149 were male (69.0%) and 67 were female (31.0%).
Popularity
Hastings: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hastings from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 37 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
Hastings 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 Hastings during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hastings
The name Hastings is of Old English origin, derived from the Old English words "hæst" meaning "haste" or "hastiness" and "inga" meaning "people" or "followers." It is believed to have originated as a locational surname referring to a settlement or town near a promontory or headland, possibly in reference to the town of Hastings in East Sussex, England.
The earliest recorded use of Hastings as a given name dates back to the 11th century, shortly after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was William de Hastings, a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror during the invasion and was later granted lands in Leicestershire, England. His descendants went on to become influential figures in English history.
In the 13th century, Henry Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (c. 1235-1268), was a prominent English nobleman and military leader who fought in the Second Barons' War against King Henry III. He was later succeeded by his son, John Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (c. 1262-1313), who also played a significant role in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
During the 15th century, William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings (c. 1431-1483), was a close confidant of King Edward IV and served as Lord Chamberlain of England. He was eventually executed by Richard III for alleged treason, an event famously depicted in William Shakespeare's play "Richard III."
Another notable figure with the name Hastings was Warren Hastings (1732-1818), the first Governor-General of British India from 1773 to 1785. His tenure was marked by significant administrative reforms and territorial expansion, but he also faced criticism for his controversial policies and was eventually impeached, though later acquitted.
Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings (1754-1826), was a British nobleman and military officer who served as Governor-General of India from 1813 to 1823. He is remembered for his successful campaigns against the Maratha Empire and his efforts to modernize the East India Company's army.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Hastings. The name's origins and historical associations with places and prominent figures have contributed to its enduring popularity as a given name over the centuries.
People
Hastings + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hastings 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
Hastings: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hastings?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 61 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hastings 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 5,618,924 US residents.
Is Hastings a common name?
We classify Hastings as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 73 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hastings most popular?
The single biggest year for Hastings was 2023, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hastings is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hastings in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 216 people with the name Hastings, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,618 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 Hastings 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 Hastings?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hastings on both sides of the split. Of the 216 people counted with this name, 149 were male (69.0%) and 67 were female (31.0%). 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 Hastings?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hastings is White at 67.6%. The next largest groups are Black (20.4%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Hastings most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hastings in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.6% (146 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 Hastings in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hastings a male name?
Yes, 93.2% of people registered as Hastings 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 Hastings still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hastings 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 Hastings 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 many people have Hastings as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Hastings on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.