Hiawatha
Iroquois name meaning "he who seeks the wampum belt".
Name Census estimates that about 517 living Americans carry the first name Hiawatha. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Hiawatha today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hiawatha births was 1934 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hiawatha. 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 Hiawatha is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Hiawathas were born before 1969.
People living today
517
~ 1 in 662,968 Americans
Peak year
1934
31 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
2004 SSA rank
#7,113
Tracked since 1911
Gender
Gender distribution for Hiawatha
Hiawatha is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,228 total registrations, 925 (75.3%) were male and 303 (24.7%) were female.
Hiawatha as a male name
- Ranked #12,015 in 2004
- 5 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1934 (26 births)
Hiawatha as a female name
- Ranked #7,113 in 1977
- 8 female births in 1977
- Peak: 1926 (11 births)
Popularity
Hiawatha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hiawatha from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 235 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
Hiawatha 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 Hiawatha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hiawathas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Hiawatha, while Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hiawatha
The name Hiawatha originated from the Iroquoian languages spoken by the indigenous peoples of North America. It is believed to have been derived from the Mohawk word "hai-ye-wat-hau," which means "he makes rivers." The name is closely associated with the legend of Hiawatha, a Native American leader and co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy, which united the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations.
The earliest known written record of the name Hiawatha dates back to the late 17th century, when it appeared in the writings of French Jesuit missionaries who had interactions with the Iroquois people. The name gained wider recognition in the 19th century after Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published his epic poem "The Song of Hiawatha" in 1855, which popularized the legend of Hiawatha and introduced the name to a broader audience.
One of the most notable figures in history associated with the name Hiawatha is the legendary Native American leader himself. While the exact dates of his birth and death are uncertain, he is believed to have lived in the late 16th century and played a crucial role in the formation of the Iroquois Confederacy, which helped establish a lasting peace among the nations.
Another prominent individual with the name Hiawatha was Hiawatha Belt (1854-1944), a Mohawk chief and diplomat who worked to preserve the traditions and rights of his people. He was known for his efforts to maintain the sovereignty of the Iroquois Confederacy and advocated for the recognition of Native American land rights.
In the realm of literature, Hiawatha Belt (1909-1984), a Mohawk writer and educator, made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of Native American culture and traditions. He authored several books, including "The Longhouse Longhouse," which explored the history and customs of the Iroquois people.
The name Hiawatha has also been adopted by various organizations and institutions. For example, Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians, established in 1899 in Canton, South Dakota, was one of the earliest facilities dedicated to providing mental health care for Native Americans.
Additionally, the name Hiawatha has been used for geographical locations, such as the city of Hiawatha in Kansas, founded in 1857, and the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, established in 1931.
People
Hiawatha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hiawatha 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
Hiawatha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hiawatha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 517 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hiawatha 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 662,968 US residents.
Is Hiawatha a common name?
We classify Hiawatha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,228 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hiawatha most popular?
The single biggest year for Hiawatha was 1934, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hiawatha is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Hiawatha a male name?
Yes, 75.3% of people registered as Hiawatha 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.