Hawthorne
A gender-neutral name derived from the English hawthorn tree.
Name Census estimates that about 358 living Americans carry the first name Hawthorne. It is a predominantly male name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Hawthorne today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hawthorne births was 2016 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hawthorne. 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
358
~ 1 in 957,414 Americans
Peak year
2016
42 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,103
Tracked since 1916
Census
Hawthorne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 333 people with the first name Hawthorne, which placed it at #27,468 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
#27,468
National first-name rank
People counted
333
333 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hawthorne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hawthorne is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Black (16.2%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). 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 Hawthorne 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 Hawthorne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.2% · 227
- Black or African American16.2% · 54
- Two or more races7.5% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Hawthorne
Hawthorne leans heavily male at 98.5% of total registrations, but 6 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Hawthorne as a male name
- Ranked #4,103 in 2024
- 26 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (36 births)
Hawthorne as a female name
- Ranked #15,015 in 2016
- 6 female births in 2016
- Peak: 2016 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hawthorne leans strongly male. 291 people counted with this name were male (86.9%), compared with 44 female bearers (13.1%).
Popularity
Hawthorne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hawthorne from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 194 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hawthorne remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hawthorne 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 Hawthorne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hawthornes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hawthorne
The name Hawthorne is of English origin, derived from the combination of the Old English words "hæg" meaning "hedge" and "thorn" referring to the thorny shrub or tree. This name likely emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century, as a descriptive surname for someone who lived near a hawthorn hedge or thicket.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hawthorne can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which were administrative records of landowners in medieval England. The rolls mention a John de Hauethorn, indicating the use of the surname at that time.
While the name Hawthorne does not appear to have any direct connections to ancient texts or religious scriptures, it may have been influenced by the cultural significance of the hawthorn plant in various European traditions. The hawthorn was often associated with fertility, protection, and mythology in Celtic and Germanic folklore.
Among the notable individuals who have borne the first name Hawthorne throughout history, we can mention:
1. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), the renowned American novelist and short story writer, best known for works such as "The Scarlet Letter" and "The House of the Seven Gables."
2. Hawthorne James (1819-1887), a British-born explorer and author who traveled extensively in the American West and wrote several books about his experiences.
3. Hawthorne Harte (1871-1940), an American actor and playwright who performed on Broadway and in several silent films during the early 20th century.
4. Hawthorne Woolridge (1925-1994), an American professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians.
5. Hawthorne Somers (1941-2021), a British-American actor and voice artist known for his roles in various television shows and films, as well as his work in voice acting for video games and animated series.
The name Hawthorne has continued to be used throughout the centuries, often evoking associations with nature, literature, and historical figures who have contributed to various fields.
People
Hawthorne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hawthorne 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
Hawthorne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hawthorne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 358 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hawthorne 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 957,414 US residents.
Is Hawthorne a common name?
We classify Hawthorne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 408 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hawthorne most popular?
The single biggest year for Hawthorne was 2016, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hawthorne is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hawthorne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 333 people with the name Hawthorne, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,468 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 Hawthorne 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 Hawthorne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hawthorne leans strongly male. 291 people counted with this name were male (86.9%), compared with 44 female bearers (13.1%). 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 Hawthorne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hawthorne is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Black (16.2%) and Two or More Races (7.5%). 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 Hawthorne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hawthorne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.2% (227 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 Hawthorne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hawthorne a male name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Hawthorne 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 Hawthorne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hawthorne 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 Hawthorne 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 are named Hawthorne?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.