Humphrey
From an Old German name, meaning "peaceful home defender".
Name Census estimates that about 509 living Americans carry the first name Humphrey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Humphrey today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Humphrey births was 1924 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Humphrey. 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
509
~ 1 in 673,388 Americans
Peak year
1924
22 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,298
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Humphrey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Humphrey 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 151 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
Humphrey 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 Humphrey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Humphreys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Humphrey
The name Humphrey has its origins in the Germanic languages, deriving from the Old German words "hûn" meaning "bear" and "frid" meaning "peace". It was initially a compound name signifying someone who had the qualities of a peaceful bear. This name gained prominence in medieval times, particularly in England and France.
In the 11th century, the name Humphrey was recorded in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This early record suggests the name's widespread use in England during the Norman period.
One of the earliest notable figures to bear the name was Humphrey de Bohun, a prominent Anglo-Norman nobleman born around 1145. He was a trusted advisor to King Henry II and accompanied him on military campaigns in France.
The name Humphrey also appears in Geoffrey Chaucer's celebrated work, The Canterbury Tales, written in the late 14th century. One of the pilgrims in the tales is a character named Humphrey, a wealthy freeman from Oxfordshire.
In the 15th century, Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1402-1460), was a powerful English nobleman and military commander during the Wars of the Roses. He played a crucial role in the conflict between the Houses of Lancaster and York.
Another notable bearer of the name was Humphrey Llwyd (1527-1568), a Welsh antiquarian and cartographer. He is renowned for producing the first printed volume of Welsh prose, as well as creating maps of Wales and England.
In the 17th century, Humphrey Chetham (1580-1653), an English merchant and philanthropist, founded Chetham's Hospital and Chetham's Library in Manchester, which became one of the oldest public libraries in the English-speaking world.
Humphrey Davy (1778-1829), an English chemist and inventor, made significant contributions to the fields of electrolysis and the study of gases. He is credited with isolating several elements, including sodium and potassium, and inventing the Davy lamp for use in coal mines.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Humphrey, a name steeped in Germanic roots and associated with qualities of peace and strength.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Humphrey
People
Humphrey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Humphrey 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
Humphrey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Humphrey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 509 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Humphrey 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 673,388 US residents.
Is Humphrey a common name?
We classify Humphrey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,085 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Humphrey most popular?
The single biggest year for Humphrey was 1924, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Humphrey is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Humphrey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Humphrey 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.
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.