Hy
Sharp or bright; the short form of Hilary.
Name Census estimates that about 74 living Americans carry the first name Hy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hy today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hy births was 1915 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hy. 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 Hy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
74
~ 1 in 4,631,815 Americans
Peak year
1915
11 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,959
Tracked since 1914
Census
Hy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 882 people with the first name Hy, which placed it at #13,618 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
#13,618
National first-name rank
People counted
882
882 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hy is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.2%. The next largest groups are White (12.4%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Hy 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 Hy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander84.2% · 743
- White12.4% · 109
- Black or African American1.6% · 14
- Two or more races0.9% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Hy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hy from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 34 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Hy remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hy 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 Hy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hy
The name Hy is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with its roots dating back to the 5th century AD. It is a diminutive form of the name Hubert, which itself derives from the Germanic words "hug" meaning heart or mind, and "berht" meaning bright or famous. Hy was a popular name among the Anglo-Saxons and was frequently used as a nickname or shortened version of longer names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hy can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record of events in Anglo-Saxon England. The chronicle mentions a figure named Hy, who was a renowned warrior and leader during the 6th century. However, details about his life and achievements are scarce.
In the medieval period, the name Hy gained popularity among the nobility and aristocracy in England. One notable figure was Hy de Bohun, an English nobleman who lived from 1175 to 1220. He was a member of the powerful Bohun family and served as a prominent military commander during the reign of King John.
During the Renaissance era, the name Hy found its way into literature and the arts. One prominent figure was Hy More, an English poet and writer who lived from 1573 to 1635. He is best known for his works on theology and philosophy, which influenced the intellectual discourse of his time.
In the 18th century, Hy Fielding, an English novelist and playwright, was born in 1707. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the English novel and is best known for his works such as "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling" and "Amelia." Fielding's contributions to literature and satire have been widely celebrated.
Another notable figure in history was Hy Sinclair, a Scottish explorer and adventurer who lived from 1800 to 1856. He is renowned for his expeditions to the Arctic regions, where he made significant contributions to the exploration and mapping of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
While the name Hy has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it remains a part of history and has been borne by individuals who have left their mark in various fields, from literature and the arts to exploration and military leadership.
People
Hy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hy 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
Hy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 74 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hy 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 4,631,815 US residents.
Is Hy a common name?
We classify Hy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 117 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hy most popular?
The single biggest year for Hy was 1915, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hy is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 882 people with the name Hy, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,618 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 Hy 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 Hy?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hy on both sides of the split. Of the 887 people counted with this name, 696 were male (78.5%) and 191 were female (21.5%). 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 Hy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hy is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.2%. The next largest groups are White (12.4%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Hy most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (743 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 Hy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hy 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 Hy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hy 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 Hy 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 Hy?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Hy, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.