Hershey
A masculine name of English origin meaning "stag's meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 52 living Americans carry the first name Hershey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hershey today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hershey births was 2022 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hershey. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hershey. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
52
~ 1 in 6,591,430 Americans
Peak year
2022
10 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,944
Tracked since 1914
Popularity
Hershey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hershey from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 35 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Hershey remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hershey 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 Hershey 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 Hershey
The name Hershey is a relatively modern name with origins rooted in the English language. It is believed to have been derived from the German surname Hirschey, which itself is thought to have originated from the German word "Hirsch," meaning deer or stag.
The earliest recorded use of the name Hershey as a given name dates back to the late 19th century in the United States. One of the most notable individuals to bear this name was Milton Snavely Hershey, the American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894. Born in 1857 in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, Milton Hershey's confectionery empire became one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
Another early bearer of the name Hershey was Hershey Brinser, an American baseball player who played in the Major Leagues from 1899 to 1904. Brinser was born in 1877 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and played for several teams, including the Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals.
In the 20th century, the name Hershey gained some prominence, with several notable individuals bearing the name. Hershey Longman, born in 1909 in New York City, was an American artist and painter known for her abstract expressionist works. Hershey Kisses, born in 1950 in Los Angeles, California, was an American drag queen and activist who was a prominent figure in the LGBTQ+ community.
One of the more recent notable individuals named Hershey was Hershey Felder, an American actor, playwright, and composer born in 1948 in Montreal, Canada. Felder is best known for his one-man shows depicting the lives of famous composers, including George Gershwin and Irving Berlin.
Despite its relatively modern origins, the name Hershey has gained a certain level of recognition and popularity, particularly in the United States, thanks in large part to the success of the Hershey Chocolate Company and its iconic brand. While it may not have a long and storied history like some other names, Hershey has carved out its own unique place in the annals of given names.
People
Hershey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hershey 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
Hershey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hershey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 52 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hershey 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 6,591,430 US residents.
Is Hershey a common name?
We classify Hershey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 133 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hershey most popular?
The single biggest year for Hershey was 2022, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hershey is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Hershey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hershey 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.