Henson
An English surname derived from the medieval given name Hende, meaning "courteous, gentle".
Name Census estimates that about 442 living Americans carry the first name Henson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Henson today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Henson births was 2015 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Henson. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Henson with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
442
~ 1 in 775,462 Americans
Peak year
2015
33 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,108
Tracked since 1916
Census
Henson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 481 people with the first name Henson, which placed it at #21,195 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
#21,195
National first-name rank
People counted
481
481 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Henson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Henson is White at 49.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.9%) and Black (15.6%). 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 Henson 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 Henson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.3% · 237
- Asian and Pacific Islander22.9% · 110
- Black or African American15.6% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 27
- Two or more races4.8% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 9
Popularity
Henson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Henson from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 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, Henson remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Henson 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 Henson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hensons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Henson
The name Henson has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the words "henn" meaning "chicken" and "son" meaning "son of." It is believed to have originated as an occupational surname in the Middle Ages, referring to someone who raised or traded in poultry, particularly chickens.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Henson can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears in various spellings, such as "Hennesone" and "Hennisun," indicating its widespread use at the time.
In the 13th century, the name Henson gained prominence with the birth of Henson de Longo Campo, a notable English scholar and clergyman who served as the Chancellor of the University of Oxford from 1244 to 1245.
During the Renaissance period, the name Henson was associated with several accomplished individuals. One notable figure was John Henson (c. 1480-1554), an English Protestant reformer and martyr who was burned at the stake for his religious beliefs during the reign of Queen Mary I.
In the 17th century, the name Henson was borne by Richard Henson (1614-1681), an English mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the calculation of planetary orbits.
The 19th century saw the rise of several influential figures with the name Henson. Among them was Matthew Henson (1866-1955), an African American explorer who accompanied Robert Peary on several expeditions to the Arctic and is credited as being one of the first people to reach the geographic North Pole in 1909.
Another notable Henson from this era was Jim Henson (1936-1990), the acclaimed American puppeteer, filmmaker, and creator of the beloved Muppets characters. His work revolutionized the art of puppetry and brought joy to millions of children and adults alike.
While the name Henson has its roots in occupational origins, it has evolved over the centuries to become a celebrated name associated with various fields, including exploration, religion, science, and entertainment. Its enduring legacy serves as a testament to the rich tapestry of human history and achievement.
People
Henson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Henson 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
Henson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Henson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 442 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Henson 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 775,462 US residents.
Is Henson a common name?
We classify Henson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 528 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Henson most popular?
The single biggest year for Henson was 2015, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Henson is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Henson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 481 people with the name Henson, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,195 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 Henson 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 Henson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Henson leans strongly male. 462 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 23 female bearers (4.7%). 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 Henson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Henson is White at 49.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (22.9%) and Black (15.6%). 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 Henson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Henson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.3% (237 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 Henson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Henson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Henson 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 Henson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Henson 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 Henson 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 common is the name Henson?
See how many Americans are named Henson on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.