Hooker
A masculine name derived from an occupation, referring to one who attaches hooks.
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Hooker. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hooker today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hooker births was 1919 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hooker. 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 Hooker. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1919
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1919 SSA rank
#4,446
Tracked since 1919
Popularity
Hooker: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Hooker 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 Hooker during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Hooker
The given name Hooker has its origins in Old English, derived from the word "hoc," meaning hook or crook. It was initially used as an occupational surname for those who made or sold hooks, particularly in the fishing and maritime trades.
During the Middle Ages, the name Hooker was prevalent among the working class and often associated with trades involving hooks, such as fishermen, blacksmiths, and tool makers. It was a common name in coastal regions of England and Scotland, where fishing and maritime activities were significant.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hooker can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which documented landholders and tenants in England after the Norman Conquest. This suggests that the name was already in use by the 11th century.
In religious history, the name is most notably associated with Richard Hooker (1554-1600), an influential Anglican priest and theologian who is considered one of the founders of Anglican theology. His seminal work, "Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity," was a defense of the Church of England's via media, or middle way, between Protestantism and Catholicism.
Another notable figure with the name Hooker was Thomas Hooker (1586-1647), a Puritan colonial leader and one of the founders of the Connecticut Colony. He is known for his influential sermon, "A Survey of the Summe of Church Discipline," which advocated for a democratic form of church governance.
In the field of science, William Hooker (1785-1865) was a renowned English botanist and the first official director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. His son, Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911), followed in his footsteps and became a prominent botanist and explorer, serving as the director of Kew Gardens from 1865 to 1885.
Another notable figure was Sir Joseph Hooker (1817-1911), a renowned British botanist and explorer who made significant contributions to the study of plant geography and distribution. He is best known for his travels to Antarctica and the Himalayas, as well as his role in introducing Darwin's theory of evolution to the scientific community.
While the name Hooker has its roots in an occupational surname, it has evolved over time and been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including religious leaders, colonial founders, and esteemed scientists.
People
Hooker + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hooker 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
Hooker: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hooker?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hooker 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 - US residents.
Is Hooker a common name?
We classify Hooker as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hooker most popular?
The single biggest year for Hooker was 1919, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hooker is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Hooker in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hooker a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hooker 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 Hooker still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hooker 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 Hooker 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Hooker?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.