Herndon
An English place name meaning "high hill with herons".
Name Census estimates that about 30 living Americans carry the first name Herndon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Herndon today is around 82 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Herndon births was 1920 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Herndon. 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 Herndon is about 82 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Herndons were born before 1954.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Herndon. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
30
~ 1 in 11,425,145 Americans
Peak year
1920
17 babies that year
Average age
82
years old
1955 SSA rank
#3,315
Tracked since 1915
Census
Herndon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 115 people with the first name Herndon, which placed it at #51,185 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
#51,185
National first-name rank
People counted
115
115 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Herndon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Herndon is White at 64.3%. The next largest groups are Black (30.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.3%). 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 Herndon 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 Herndon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.3% · 74
- Black or African American30.4% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
Popularity
Herndon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Herndon 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 87 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
Herndon 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 Herndon 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 Herndon
The name Herndon is believed to have its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century CE. It is derived from the words "hern" meaning "heron" and "dun" meaning "hill" or "down." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a hill or down where herons were found.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Herndon can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Herndun," referring to a settlement in Wiltshire, England.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Herndon was primarily concentrated in England and parts of Scotland. It was often used as a surname, but there are also instances of it being used as a given name, particularly among the nobility and gentry.
In the 14th century, a notable figure named Herndon de Stoke was mentioned in the records of the Chancery Court in England. He was a landowner and nobleman, though little else is known about his life.
During the Renaissance period, the name Herndon gained some prominence in the arts. In the late 16th century, an English playwright and poet named Herndon Smithe was active in London's literary circles. His works, though largely forgotten today, were praised by contemporaries like Ben Jonson.
In the 18th century, a British explorer named Herndon James embarked on several expeditions to the Americas. He is credited with mapping parts of the Mississippi River and contributing to the early exploration of the American West.
Another notable figure with the name Herndon was Herndon Beecher, an American abolitionist and clergyman born in 1813. He was a prominent figure in the anti-slavery movement and worked closely with his sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
Finally, in the 20th century, Herndon Davis was an American artist and illustrator who gained recognition for his striking depictions of the American West. Born in 1901, his paintings and drawings captured the rugged landscapes and cowboy culture of the era.
While the name Herndon has remained relatively uncommon, it holds a rich history spanning centuries and continents, reflecting the diverse cultural influences that have shaped its meaning and significance over time.
People
Herndon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Herndon 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
Herndon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Herndon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 30 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Herndon 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 Herndon a common name?
We classify Herndon 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, 194 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Herndon most popular?
The single biggest year for Herndon was 1920, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Herndon is about 82 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Herndon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 115 people with the name Herndon, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,185 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 Herndon 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 Herndon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Herndon leans strongly male. 108 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 3 female bearers (2.7%). 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 Herndon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Herndon is White at 64.3%. The next largest groups are Black (30.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.3%). 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 Herndon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Herndon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.3% (74 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 Herndon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Herndon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Herndon 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 Herndon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Herndon 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 Herndon 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 share the name Herndon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.