Herson
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "rejoicing" or "glad".
Name Census estimates that about 514 living Americans carry the first name Herson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Herson today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Herson births was 2006 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Herson. 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
514
~ 1 in 666,837 Americans
Peak year
2006
31 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,292
Tracked since 1985
Popularity
Herson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Herson from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 221 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Herson 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 Herson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hersons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Herson
The name Herson finds its origins in Old Norse, a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their descendants during the Viking Age, which lasted from the late 8th century to the late 11th century. It is derived from the Old Norse name "Hersteinn," which is a compound of the words "herr" meaning "army" and "steinn" meaning "stone."
In the Icelandic language, a descendant of Old Norse, the name "Herson" is spelled "Hersteinn." This variation suggests that the name may have been introduced to other regions by Norse settlers or Vikings during their expansions and explorations across Europe and the North Atlantic.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name "Herson" can be found in the Landnámabók, a medieval Icelandic manuscript that details the settlement of Iceland by Norse settlers in the 9th and 10th centuries. The name is mentioned in connection with a prominent chieftain and landowner from that era.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Herson. One such person was Herson Gómez, a Spanish explorer and conquistador who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493. He was among the first Europeans to set foot on the island of Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic).
Another historical figure with the name Herson was Herson de Cuvillies (1695-1768), a French-German architect and builder who was responsible for the design and construction of several notable buildings in Munich, including the Amalienburg Pavilion and the Residenz Antiquarium.
In the realm of literature, Herson Pereira (1900-1988) was a Brazilian poet and writer who was a prominent figure in the Modernist movement in Brazilian literature. His works often explored themes of social injustice and the plight of the working class.
Herson Capri (1933-2010) was an Italian singer and actor who rose to fame in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for his hit song "Oh, Marie" and his appearances in several Italian films during the height of his popularity.
Lastly, Herson Mosquera Ramos (born 1977) is a Colombian professional basketball player who has played for various teams in Colombia and abroad, including stints in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Memphis Grizzlies.
People
Herson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Herson 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
Herson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Herson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 514 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Herson 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 666,837 US residents.
Is Herson a common name?
We classify Herson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 522 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Herson most popular?
The single biggest year for Herson was 2006, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Herson is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Herson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Herson 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.