Hoda
An Arabic feminine name meaning "guiding path" or "right path".
Name Census estimates that about 492 living Americans carry the first name Hoda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hoda today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hoda births was 1987 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hoda. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Hoda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
492
~ 1 in 696,655 Americans
Peak year
1987
20 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,613
Tracked since 1972
Census
Hoda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,728 people with the first name Hoda, which placed it at #8,397 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
#8,397
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,728 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hoda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hoda is White at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Black (7.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Hoda 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 Hoda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.1% · 1,454
- Black or African American7.9% · 136
- Two or more races5.2% · 89
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Hoda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hoda from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 121 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Hoda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hoda 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 Hoda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hodas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hoda
The name Hoda has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "huda," which means "guidance" or "right path." The name is believed to have been in use since the early days of Islam, around the 7th century CE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hoda can be found in the Quran, the sacred text of Islam. In the Quran, the word "huda" is used to refer to the guidance provided by Allah to humanity.
Throughout history, the name Hoda has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest known figures with this name was Hoda bint al-Husayn (born around 670 CE), who was a renowned scholar and poet during the Umayyad Caliphate.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Hoda Shaarawi (1879-1947), an Egyptian feminist leader and activist who played a significant role in the women's liberation movement in Egypt. She was one of the founders of the Egyptian Feminist Union and worked tirelessly to improve the rights and status of women in her country.
In the 20th century, Hoda Barakat (born 1952) is a renowned Lebanese novelist and writer. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential contemporary Arabic writers and has received numerous literary awards for her works, which often explore themes of identity, exile, and the complexities of human relationships.
Hoda Kotb (born 1964) is an American television broadcaster and author. She is currently the co-anchor of the NBC News morning show "Today" and has gained widespread recognition for her warmth, resilience, and advocacy for various causes.
Hoda Rahmati (born 1977) is an Iranian actress and filmmaker. She has starred in several acclaimed Iranian films and has directed several short films, gaining recognition for her work in promoting women's rights and addressing social issues through her art.
The name Hoda has transcended its Arabic origins and has been embraced by various cultures and communities around the world. While its popularity may have ebbed and flowed over time, the name continues to resonate with its meaningful connotations of guidance and direction, making it a timeless choice for parents seeking a name with deep historical and cultural significance.
People
Hoda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hoda 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
Hoda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hoda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 492 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hoda 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 696,655 US residents.
Is Hoda a common name?
We classify Hoda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 508 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hoda most popular?
The single biggest year for Hoda was 1987, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hoda is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hoda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,728 people with the name Hoda, or 0.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,397 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 Hoda 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 Hoda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hoda appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,735 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Hoda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hoda is White at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Black (7.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Hoda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hoda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.1% (1,454 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 Hoda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hoda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hoda 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 Hoda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hoda 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 Hoda 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 Hoda as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.