Hoyt
A masculine given name of English origin, meaning "wood" or "forest".
Name Census estimates that about 3,960 living Americans carry the first name Hoyt. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hoyt today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hoyt births was 1922 (176 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hoyt. 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
4.0K
~ 1 in 86,554 Americans
Peak year
1922
176 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,483
Tracked since 1880
Census
Hoyt in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,454 people with the first name Hoyt, which placed it at #5,087 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
#5,087
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,454 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hoyt
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hoyt is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Hoyt 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 Hoyt at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 3,121
- Black or African American4.0% · 137
- Two or more races2.6% · 89
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 30
Gender
Gender distribution for Hoyt
Out of the 8,528 babies given the name Hoyt since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Hoyt as a male name
- Ranked #2,483 in 2024
- 55 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1922 (171 births)
Hoyt as a female name
- Ranked #5,421 in 1924
- 5 female births in 1924
- Peak: 1922 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hoyt appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,460 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Hoyt: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hoyt from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,563 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
Hoyt 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 Hoyt during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hoyts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Hoyt, while Louisiana, Nebraska, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 199 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hoyt
The given name Hoyt is an English name with origins dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English word "hoh", meaning heel or ridge, and was likely used as a surname initially to refer to someone who lived near a ridge or heel-shaped hill.
Hoyt first emerged as a given name among English families in the 13th and 14th centuries. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in historical records and parish registers from this period, though its usage was quite rare at the time.
As a given name, Hoyt gained more popularity during the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly among Puritan families in England and later in the American colonies. It was often chosen as a name to reflect the virtues of humility and simplicity, which were highly valued in Puritan culture.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the given name Hoyt was Hoyt Wheeler (1585-1657), an English Puritan who emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635. He was a founding member of the town of Salisbury, Massachusetts, and served as a deacon in the local church.
Another historically significant figure was Hoyt Sherman (1827-1904), an American businessman and banker from Ohio. During the American Civil War, he served as a Union Army officer and played a crucial role in the Vicksburg Campaign, which was a major turning point in the war.
In the realm of literature, Hoyt Curtin (1922-2000) was an American novelist and short story writer known for his works depicting life in the American West. His most famous novel, "The Lonesome Traveler," was published in 1975 and received critical acclaim.
Hoyt Axton (1938-1999) was a renowned American country music singer, songwriter, and actor. He is best known for his hit songs "Joy to the World" and "Della and the Dealer," as well as his appearances in films like "Gremlins" and "The Black Stallion."
More recently, Hoyt Curtin (born 1964) is an American composer and musician known for his work in film and television scores, including the popular TV series "The Sopranos" and "Boardwalk Empire."
While the name Hoyt has never been among the most popular given names, it has a rich history and has been borne by notable figures across various fields throughout the centuries, reflecting its enduring appeal and historical significance.
People
Hoyt + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hoyt 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
Hoyt: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hoyt?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,960 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hoyt 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 86,554 US residents.
Is Hoyt a common name?
We classify Hoyt as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,528 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hoyt most popular?
The single biggest year for Hoyt was 1922, when 176 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hoyt is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hoyt in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,454 people with the name Hoyt, or 1.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,087 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 Hoyt 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 Hoyt?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hoyt appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,460 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Hoyt?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hoyt is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Hoyt most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hoyt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (3,121 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 Hoyt in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hoyt a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Hoyt 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 Hoyt still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hoyt 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 Hoyt 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 common is the name Hoyt?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.