Hiwot
An Amharic feminine name meaning "life".
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Hiwot. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hiwot today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hiwot births was 2007 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hiwot. 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 Hiwot. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
2007
7 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2014 SSA rank
#17,522
Tracked since 2005
Census
Hiwot in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 944 people with the first name Hiwot, which placed it at #12,955 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
#12,955
National first-name rank
People counted
944
944 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
99.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hiwot
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hiwot is Black at 99.2%. The next largest groups are White (0.5%) and Hispanic (0.3%). 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 Hiwot 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 Hiwot at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American99.2% · 936
- White0.5% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 3
Popularity
Hiwot: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hiwot from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Hiwot remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hiwot 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 Hiwot 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 Hiwot
Hiwot is a given name with origins in the Semitic languages of the Horn of Africa region, particularly in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The name is derived from the Ge'ez word "ḥeyāwi," which means "life" or "living." This connection to the concept of life and vitality has made Hiwot a popular name choice in these cultures.
The earliest recorded use of the name Hiwot can be traced back to ancient Ge'ez manuscripts and inscriptions from the 4th century CE. These texts were written in the Ge'ez language, which was the literary language of the Aksumite Empire, one of the major powers in the region during that time.
In the medieval period, Hiwot was a name borne by several notable individuals in the Horn of Africa. One such person was Hiwot Zar'a Ya'iqob, a 15th-century Ethiopian noblewoman and the daughter of Emperor Zar'a Ya'iqob. She played a significant role in the political affairs of the Solomonic dynasty during her lifetime.
Another historical figure with the name Hiwot was Hiwot Mikael, a 16th-century Ethiopian nobleman and military leader. He was instrumental in defending the Ethiopian Empire against the Ottoman Empire's invasion attempts during the Adal War.
In the realm of religion, Hiwot Habtun was a 17th-century Ethiopian nun and mystic who is venerated as a saint in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Her life and teachings had a profound impact on the spiritual traditions of the region.
Moving forward in time, Hiwot Truneh was a 19th-century Ethiopian poet and composer. She was renowned for her contributions to the folk music and literary traditions of her country, and her works continue to be celebrated and studied to this day.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Hiwot. The name's enduring popularity in the Horn of Africa region is a testament to its deep cultural roots and the significance of its meaning.
People
Hiwot + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hiwot 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
Hiwot: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hiwot?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hiwot 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 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Hiwot a common name?
We classify Hiwot as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hiwot most popular?
The single biggest year for Hiwot was 2007, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hiwot is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hiwot in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 944 people with the name Hiwot, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,955 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 Hiwot 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 Hiwot?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hiwot leans strongly female. 939 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 10 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Hiwot?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hiwot is Black at 99.2%. The next largest groups are White (0.5%) and Hispanic (0.3%). 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 Hiwot most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Hiwot in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.2% (936 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 Hiwot in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hiwot a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hiwot in the SSA data are female. 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 Hiwot still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hiwot 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 Hiwot 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 people have Hiwot as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Hiwot on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.