Hawkins
Son of a falconer or maker of hawks.
Name Census estimates that about 874 living Americans carry the first name Hawkins. It is a predominantly male name (98.9% of registrations). The average person named Hawkins today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hawkins births was 2016 (88 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hawkins. 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
874
~ 1 in 392,167 Americans
Peak year
2016
88 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,344
Tracked since 1914
Gender
Gender distribution for Hawkins
Hawkins leans heavily male at 98.9% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Hawkins as a male name
- Ranked #3,344 in 2024
- 35 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (88 births)
Hawkins as a female name
- Ranked #16,050 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2021 (5 births)
Popularity
Hawkins: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hawkins from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 513 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hawkins remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hawkins 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 Hawkins during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hawkins' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, California recorded the most babies named Hawkins, while Georgia, Florida, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hawkins
The name Hawkins is of English origin, derived from the Old English surname "Hafoc", which means "hawker" or "hawker's son". The name is believed to have originated in the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.
The name is thought to be related to the Old English word "hafoc", which means "hawk". This connection suggests that the name may have originally been given to individuals who worked with hawks, such as falconers or hunters, or those who lived in areas where hawks were prevalent.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Hawkins can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions several individuals with the surname "Hafoc" or similar variations.
In the 16th century, Sir John Hawkins (1532-1595) was an English naval commander and explorer who became famous for his voyages to the West Indies and his involvement in the African slave trade. His exploits contributed to the rise of English maritime power and the expansion of the British Empire.
Another notable figure with the name Hawkins was Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins (1807-1894), an English artist and sculptor who specialized in creating life-sized models of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. His work played a significant role in the early study and public understanding of paleontology.
In literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), the renowned American novelist and short story writer, is believed to have descended from a family with the surname Hawkins. His ancestors changed the spelling of their name to "Hawthorne" in the 17th century.
Other notable individuals named Hawkins include Walter Hawkins (1911-1992), an American gospel music composer and pianist, and James Augustine Aloysius Hawkins (1900-1965), better known as Slim Hawkins, an American jazz drummer and bandleader active in the 1920s and 1930s.
The name Hawkins has been carried through history by individuals from various walks of life, reflecting its diverse origins and associations with different professions and cultural backgrounds.
People
Hawkins + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hawkins 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
Hawkins: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hawkins?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 874 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hawkins 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 392,167 US residents.
Is Hawkins a common name?
We classify Hawkins as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 896 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hawkins most popular?
The single biggest year for Hawkins was 2016, when 88 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hawkins is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Hawkins a male name?
Yes, 98.9% of people registered as Hawkins 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.
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.