Heywood
Someone whose home lay in a hay meadow or near woods.
Name Census estimates that about 87 living Americans carry the first name Heywood. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Heywood today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Heywood births was 1925 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Heywood. 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 Heywood is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Heywoods were born before 1959.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Heywood. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
87
~ 1 in 3,939,705 Americans
Peak year
1925
15 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1963 SSA rank
#4,294
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Heywood: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Heywood from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 89 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
Heywood 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 Heywood during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Heywoods live
Origin
Meaning and history of Heywood
The given name Heywood has its roots in the Old English language, originating from the words "haeg" meaning "hay" and "wudu" meaning "wood." It was initially a surname referring to someone who lived near a haywoods or a wooded area where hay was grown or stored.
In the Middle Ages, the name Heywood was primarily used as a surname in England, particularly in Yorkshire and Lancashire counties. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname was William de Heywood, who lived in Yorkshire in the 13th century.
The transition of Heywood from a surname to a given name is believed to have occurred during the Renaissance period when it became fashionable to adopt surnames as first names, particularly among the upper classes. This practice was influenced by a desire to establish a sense of lineage and connection to family heritage.
One of the earliest known individuals with the given name Heywood was Heywood Townshend, an English politician and member of Parliament, born in 1615. Another notable figure was Heywood Hill, an English writer and founding father of the American colony of Virginia, who lived from 1611 to 1663.
In the 18th century, the name gained further prominence with the English playwright and actor Heywood Wake (1705-1784), known for his satirical works and adaptations of Shakespearean plays.
Another famous bearer of the name was Heywood Broun (1888-1939), an American journalist, and newspaper columnist who co-founded the American Newspaper Guild and was known for his advocacy of social and political causes.
Heywood Campbell (1923-2015), an American actor and voice artist, is also remembered for his role as Brian Cooker in the long-running soap opera General Hospital, as well as his work in various animated films and television series.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Heywood
People
Heywood + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Heywood 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
Heywood: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Heywood?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 87 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Heywood 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 3,939,705 US residents.
Is Heywood a common name?
We classify Heywood as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 305 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Heywood most popular?
The single biggest year for Heywood was 1925, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Heywood is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Heywood a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Heywood 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.