Hovannes
A masculine Armenian name derived from Johannes, meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Hovannes. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hovannes today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hovannes births was 1988 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hovannes. 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 Hovannes. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1988
6 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
1997 SSA rank
#8,564
Tracked since 1987
Census
Hovannes in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 139 people with the first name Hovannes, which placed it at #47,200 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
#47,200
National first-name rank
People counted
139
139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
92.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hovannes
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hovannes is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Hovannes 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 Hovannes at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.8% · 129
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 5
- Two or more races2.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1
Popularity
Hovannes: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hovannes from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 16 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Hovannes remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hovannes 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 Hovannes during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hovannes' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hovannes
The given name Hovannes has its origins in the Armenian language and culture. It is the Armenian form of the name John, derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious." The name Hovannes has been in use among Armenians for centuries, dating back to the early days of Christianity in Armenia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hovannes can be found in the works of the 5th-century Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi, who mentions a bishop by that name. The name also appears in various Armenian manuscripts and historical records throughout the Middle Ages.
During the Byzantine era, several notable individuals bore the name Hovannes. One of them was Hovannes Odznetsi, an Armenian scholar and theologian who lived in the 8th century and served as the Catholicos (head of the Armenian Apostolic Church) from 717 to 728.
Another prominent figure in Armenian history was Hovannes Vorotnetsi, a 13th-century Armenian prince and military leader who played a crucial role in the defense of Armenian territories against the Seljuk Turks and Mongols.
In the field of literature, one of the most celebrated figures with the name Hovannes was Hovannes Tumanyan, a renowned Armenian poet, writer, and public figure who lived from 1869 to 1923. His works, which often celebrated Armenian folklore and cultural traditions, have had a lasting impact on Armenian literature.
During the Soviet era, Hovannes Isahakyan, an Armenian writer and poet who lived from 1876 to 1957, was a prominent figure in the literary scene. His works, which often explored themes of social justice and Armenian identity, were widely acclaimed and earned him numerous awards and honors.
The name Hovannes has also been borne by several Armenian religious figures throughout history, including Catholicos Hovannes VI Draskhanakerttsi, who led the Armenian Apostolic Church from 1584 to 1590, and Hovannes VIII Golod, who served as Catholicos from 1629 to 1633.
People
Hovannes + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hovannes 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
Hovannes: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hovannes?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hovannes 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Hovannes a common name?
We classify Hovannes as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hovannes most popular?
The single biggest year for Hovannes was 1988, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hovannes is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hovannes in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 139 people with the name Hovannes, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,200 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 Hovannes 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 Hovannes?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hovannes appears almost entirely male. Of the 140 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Hovannes?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hovannes is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Hovannes most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hovannes in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.8% (129 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 Hovannes in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hovannes a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hovannes 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 Hovannes still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hovannes 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 Hovannes 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 Americans are named Hovannes?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.