Hau
Hawaiian name meaning "snow, ice, or chill".
Name Census estimates that about 140 living Americans carry the first name Hau. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 76.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Hau today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hau births was 2014 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hau. 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
140
~ 1 in 2,448,245 Americans
Peak year
2014
15 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2018 SSA rank
#8,401
Tracked since 1983
Census
Hau in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,409 people with the first name Hau, which placed it at #6,615 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
#6,615
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,409 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hau
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hau is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.0%. The next largest groups are White (0.8%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Hau 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 Hau at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.0% · 2,362
- White0.8% · 20
- Two or more races0.5% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 7
- Black or African American0.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Hau
Hau is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 143 total registrations, 109 (76.2%) were male and 34 (23.8%) were female.
Hau as a male name
- Ranked #8,401 in 2018
- 9 male births in 2018
- Peak: 2013 (12 births)
Hau as a female name
- Ranked #15,980 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2014 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hau on both sides of the split. Of the 2,404 people counted with this name, 1,658 were male (69.0%) and 746 were female (31.0%).
Popularity
Hau: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hau from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 71 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hau 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 Hau 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 Hau
The given name Hau has its roots in the Hawaiian language, originating from the Polynesian archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean. It is believed to have been in use since ancient times, perhaps as early as the 4th century AD when the islands were first settled by Polynesian voyagers.
Hau is derived from the Hawaiian word "hau," which refers to the sea hibiscus or hau tree, a flowering plant native to the Hawaiian Islands. The name may have been inspired by the beauty and resilience of this plant, which thrives in coastal environments and is known for its large, vibrant yellow flowers.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Hau can be found in traditional Hawaiian chants and oral histories, which were passed down through generations. These chants often celebrated the natural world and the spiritual connection between the Hawaiian people and their island home.
In the realm of Hawaiian mythology, Hau is also the name of a demigod associated with the hau tree. According to legend, Hau was a skilled navigator who guided the first Polynesian settlers to the Hawaiian Islands and taught them the art of voyaging across the vast Pacific Ocean.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hau. One example is Hau'oli Nui (c. 1775-1841), a high chief and advisor to King Kamehameha I, who played a pivotal role in the unification of the Hawaiian Islands in the early 19th century.
Another prominent figure is Hau Pule (1892-1975), a Hawaiian scholar and language expert who dedicated his life to preserving and revitalizing the native Hawaiian language and culture. His efforts were instrumental in ensuring the survival of the Hawaiian language, which had faced near-extinction in the 20th century.
In the realm of Hawaiian music, Hau'oli Malu (1932-2009) was a renowned singer, songwriter, and kumu hula (hula teacher) who helped popularize traditional Hawaiian music and dance both locally and internationally.
Additionally, Hau'oli Akaka (1920-2014) was a distinguished Hawaiian politician who served as a United States Senator from Hawaii from 1990 to 2013, advocating for the rights and interests of Native Hawaiians and other indigenous communities.
Lastly, Hau'oli Kai (born 1976) is a contemporary Hawaiian artist and cultural practitioner known for his intricate wood carvings and sculptures, which celebrate the rich cultural heritage and natural beauty of the Hawaiian Islands.
People
Hau + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hau 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
Hau: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hau?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 140 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hau 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 2,448,245 US residents.
Is Hau a common name?
We classify Hau as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 143 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hau most popular?
The single biggest year for Hau was 2014, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hau is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hau in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,409 people with the name Hau, or 0.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,615 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 Hau 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 Hau?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hau on both sides of the split. Of the 2,404 people counted with this name, 1,658 were male (69.0%) and 746 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 Hau?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hau is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.0%. The next largest groups are White (0.8%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Hau most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hau in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.0% (2,362 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 Hau in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hau a male name?
Yes, 76.2% of people registered as Hau 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 Hau still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hau 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 Hau 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 the name Hau?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.