Havard
A masculine name derived from a Scandinavian surname meaning "high guard".
Name Census estimates that about 30 living Americans carry the first name Havard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Havard today is around 85 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Havard births was 1918 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Havard. 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
- • The typical person named Havard is about 85 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Havards were born before 1951.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Havard. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
30
~ 1 in 11,425,145 Americans
Peak year
1918
9 babies that year
Average age
85
years old
1952 SSA rank
#3,960
Tracked since 1912
Census
Havard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 98 people with the first name Havard, which placed it at #53,484 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
#53,484
National first-name rank
People counted
98
98 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Havard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Havard is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Black (39.8%). 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 Havard 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 Havard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.2% · 59
- Black or African American39.8% · 39
Popularity
Havard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Havard from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 45 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
Havard 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 Havard 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 Havard
The name Havard is of Scandinavian origin, derived from the Old Norse name Hávarðr. It is believed to have emerged during the Viking Age, between the 8th and 11th centuries. The name is a compound of two elements: "há" meaning "high" and "varðr" meaning "guardian" or "watcher." Together, the name can be interpreted as "high guardian" or "watchman on the heights."
Historically, the name Havard was popular among Norse settlers and Vikings who ventured to various parts of Europe, including parts of what is now the United Kingdom, France, and Iceland. It is believed to have been particularly common in Norway and the surrounding regions during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Havard is found in the Icelandic Landnámabók, a medieval manuscript that chronicles the settlement of Iceland by Norse settlers in the 9th and 10th centuries. The name is mentioned in association with several prominent figures from that time period.
Among the notable historical figures who bore the name Havard is Havard the Blessed (c. 1130 – c. 1200), a Norwegian monk and saint who lived in the late 12th century. He was known for his piety and charitable works, and his feast day is celebrated on May 14th in parts of Scandinavia.
Another famous bearer of the name was Havard of Islay (c. 1220 – c. 1285), a Norwegian-Scottish nobleman who held significant power and influence in the Hebrides Islands during the 13th century. He played a crucial role in the conflicts between Norway and Scotland over the control of the islands.
In the 14th century, Havard Bjørnsson (c. 1310 – c. 1380) was a prominent Norwegian chieftain and landowner from Trøndelag, Norway. He is known for his involvement in various disputes and power struggles during his time.
In more recent history, Havard Rue (1854 – 1926) was a Norwegian novelist and playwright who gained recognition for his works depicting rural life in Norway during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another notable figure was Havard Vedvik (1884 – 1926), a Norwegian-American sailor and explorer who participated in several Arctic expeditions, including the famous Amundsen expedition to the South Pole in 1911.
People
Havard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Havard 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
Havard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Havard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 30 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Havard 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 11,425,145 US residents.
Is Havard a common name?
We classify Havard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 149 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Havard most popular?
The single biggest year for Havard was 1918, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Havard is about 85 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Havard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 98 people with the name Havard, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #53,484 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 Havard 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 Havard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Havard leans strongly male. 102 people counted with this name were male (97.1%), compared with 3 female bearers (2.9%). 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 Havard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Havard is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Black (39.8%). 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 Havard most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Havard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.2% (59 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 Havard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Havard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Havard 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 Havard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Havard 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 Havard 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 Americans are named Havard?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.