Hinson
A variant of Henry, an English name of German origin meaning "estate ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 60 living Americans carry the first name Hinson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hinson today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hinson births was 2018 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hinson. 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 Hinson. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
60
~ 1 in 5,712,572 Americans
Peak year
2018
9 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,295
Tracked since 2014
Census
Hinson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 112 people with the first name Hinson, which placed it at #51,666 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
#51,666
National first-name rank
People counted
112
112 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hinson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hinson is White at 51.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.8%) and Black (17.0%). 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 Hinson 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 Hinson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.8% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.8% · 21
- Black or African American17.0% · 19
- Two or more races5.4% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 3
Popularity
Hinson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hinson from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 31 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hinson 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 Hinson 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 Hinson
The name Hinson is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with roots dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period in England, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD. It is thought to be derived from the Old English word "hins," which meant "servant" or "attendant." The name may have been used to refer to someone who worked as a servant or attendant in a household or manor.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hinson can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land and property commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was already in use in England during the 11th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Hinson was primarily associated with lower social classes, as it was commonly given to servants and attendants. However, as time passed, the name gradually gained more widespread use across different social strata.
One notable historical figure with the name Hinson was Sir John Hinson, a British politician and Member of Parliament who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He served as the Mayor of Bristol in 1605 and played a significant role in the city's governance during that period.
Another individual worth mentioning is William Hinson, an English clergyman and academic who lived in the 17th century. He was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and served as the Rector of St. Peter's Church in Northampton.
In the 18th century, Hinson Booth was a prominent English architect known for his work on several churches and public buildings in the Midlands region of England. He was born in 1725 and died in 1793.
Moving to the 19th century, we find James Hinson, an American soldier who fought in the American Civil War. He served in the Union Army and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863.
Finally, in the 20th century, there was Maurice Hinson, a British pianist and music educator who made significant contributions to the field of music pedagogy. He was born in 1923 and passed away in 2015, leaving behind a legacy of influential publications and recordings.
These examples illustrate the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals who have borne the name Hinson throughout history, spanning various fields and time periods.
People
Hinson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hinson 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
Hinson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hinson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 60 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hinson 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 5,712,572 US residents.
Is Hinson a common name?
We classify Hinson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 60 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hinson most popular?
The single biggest year for Hinson was 2018, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hinson is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hinson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 112 people with the name Hinson, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,666 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 Hinson 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 Hinson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hinson leans strongly male. 106 people counted with this name were male (91.4%), compared with 10 female bearers (8.6%). 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 Hinson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hinson is White at 51.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.8%) and Black (17.0%). 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 Hinson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hinson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.8% (58 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 Hinson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hinson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hinson 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 Hinson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hinson 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 Hinson 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 Americans are named Hinson?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Hinson at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.