Holy
Derived from a word meaning "sacred" or "consecrated."
Name Census estimates that about 185 living Americans carry the first name Holy. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Holy today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Holy births was 2018 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Holy. 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 Holy with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
185
~ 1 in 1,852,726 Americans
Peak year
2018
22 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,116
Tracked since 1975
Census
Holy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 385 people with the first name Holy, which placed it at #24,842 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
#24,842
National first-name rank
People counted
385
385 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Holy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Holy is White at 46.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.7%) and Black (17.9%). 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 Holy 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 Holy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.0% · 177
- Asian and Pacific Islander25.7% · 99
- Black or African American17.9% · 69
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 30
- Two or more races1.6% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Holy
Holy leans heavily female at 88.3% of total registrations, but 22 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Holy as a male name
- Ranked #10,116 in 2023
- 7 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2018 (10 births)
Holy as a female name
- Ranked #10,546 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Holy on both sides of the split. Of the 384 people counted with this name, 85 were male (22.1%) and 299 were female (77.9%).
Popularity
Holy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Holy from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 92 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Holy remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Holy 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 Holy 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 Holy
The given name Holy has its roots in the English language, derived from the Old English word "halig," which means sacred, consecrated, or revered. This word traces its origins back to the Proto-Germanic "khailag," meaning "whole" or "uninjured." The name Holy emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, roughly between the 5th and 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Holy can be found in the Old English poem "Beowulf," composed between the 8th and 11th centuries. In this epic, Holy is mentioned as a character's name. Additionally, the name appears in various Old English religious texts and manuscripts, reflecting its association with sacredness and reverence.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Holy. One of the earliest recorded examples is Holy, the Bishop of Trier in the 8th century, who played a crucial role in the evangelization of the Rhineland region. Another prominent figure was Holy, the Abbot of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire, England, who lived in the 12th century and was renowned for his spiritual leadership and writings.
In the 13th century, Holy of Kerkveld, a Dutch mystic and writer, gained recognition for her influential religious works and teachings. A century later, Holy of Cambrai, a Flemish nun and mystic, made significant contributions to the spiritual literature of her time.
Moving forward to the 16th century, Holy of the Holy Cross, also known as Juan de Yepes, was a Spanish mystic and Carmelite friar who played a pivotal role in the reform of the Carmelite Order alongside St. Teresa of Avila. His writings, such as "The Ascent of Mount Carmel" and "The Dark Night of the Soul," have profoundly influenced Christian mysticism.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Holy, each leaving their mark in various fields, from religious leadership and mysticism to literature and spiritual teachings. The name's association with sacredness and reverence has persisted through the centuries, reflecting the enduring significance of its origins and meaning.
People
Holy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Holy 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
Holy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Holy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 185 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Holy 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 1,852,726 US residents.
Is Holy a common name?
We classify Holy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 188 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Holy most popular?
The single biggest year for Holy was 2018, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Holy is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Holy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 385 people with the name Holy, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,842 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 Holy 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 Holy?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Holy on both sides of the split. Of the 384 people counted with this name, 85 were male (22.1%) and 299 were female (77.9%). 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 Holy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Holy is White at 46.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.7%) and Black (17.9%). 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 Holy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Holy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.0% (177 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 Holy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Holy a female name?
Yes, 88.3% of people registered as Holy 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 Holy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Holy 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 Holy 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 Holy?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.