Hobson
A diminutive, masculine English name meaning "son of Robert".
Name Census estimates that about 112 living Americans carry the first name Hobson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hobson today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hobson births was 1898 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hobson. 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
112
~ 1 in 3,060,307 Americans
Peak year
1898
38 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2021 SSA rank
#12,821
Tracked since 1898
Census
Hobson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 222 people with the first name Hobson, which placed it at #35,960 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
#35,960
National first-name rank
People counted
222
222 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hobson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hobson is White at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Black (10.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Hobson 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 Hobson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.4% · 183
- Black or African American10.8% · 24
- Two or more races2.7% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Popularity
Hobson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hobson from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 112 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
Hobson 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 Hobson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hobsons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hobson
The given name Hobson is of English origin, stemming from the medieval era. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "hob" and "son," where "hob" referred to a rustic or uncivilized person, and "son" denoted a male offspring. Initially, Hobson may have been used as a nickname or descriptive term for a rugged or uncultured individual.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Hobson can be traced back to the 13th century in various historical documents and records from England. One notable figure bearing this name was Thomas Hobson, a 16th-century English carrier and liveryman from Cambridge, known for his strict policy of renting out horses in rotation, leading to the phrase "Hobson's choice," which means taking the only available option.
In literature, the name Hobson appears in several works, including William Shakespeare's play "The Taming of the Shrew," where a character named Hobson is mentioned. Additionally, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes, born in 1588 and died in 1679, is believed to have derived his surname from the name Hobson, reflecting his ancestral roots.
Historically, the name Hobson has been associated with various notable individuals. One such example is Joseph Hobson, an English architect and surveyor who lived from 1770 to 1831 and was known for his work on the construction of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England. Another figure was William Hobson, a British naval officer and colonial administrator who served as the first Governor of New Zealand from 1842 to 1843.
In the realm of sports, Hobson has been the given name of athletes like Hobson Pilgrim, an English cricketer who played in the late 19th century, and Hobson Hunter, an Australian rules footballer who played for Carlton in the early 20th century.
While the name Hobson may have roots in rustic or uncivilized connotations, it has transcended its origins and has been embraced by individuals from various walks of life, leaving an indelible mark on history and contributing to the rich tapestry of human culture and achievement.
People
Hobson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hobson 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
Hobson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hobson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 112 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hobson 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 3,060,307 US residents.
Is Hobson a common name?
We classify Hobson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 436 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hobson most popular?
The single biggest year for Hobson was 1898, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hobson is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hobson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 222 people with the name Hobson, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,960 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 Hobson 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 Hobson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hobson leans strongly male. 223 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.8%). 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 Hobson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hobson is White at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Black (10.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Hobson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hobson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.4% (183 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 Hobson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hobson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hobson 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 Hobson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hobson 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 Hobson 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 are called Hobson?
You can see how many Americans are named Hobson on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.