Find out how popular the last name Hult is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Hult.
A surname possibly derived from a Scandinavian place name meaning "wood" or "grove".
Hult, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Hult surname is from the 2010 census data.
Hult is the 27110th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Hult surname appeared 893 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Hult.
We can also compare 2010 data for Hult to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Rank | 27110 | 24598 | 9.72% |
Count | 893 | 952 | -6.40% |
Proportion per 100k | 0.30 | 0.35 | -15.38% |
The surname Hult is of Swedish origin, deriving from the Old Norse word "holt," meaning a small hill or wooded knoll. It is believed to have originated in the medieval period, around the 11th or 12th century, as a topographic name given to individuals who lived near or on a small hill.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to various medieval Swedish records and manuscripts. One notable mention is found in the Uppsala Cathedral's "Domboken" (Cathedral Book) from the 13th century, where a person named Hult is listed among the cathedral's clergy.
During the Viking Age, the name Hult may have been associated with individuals who lived in or near the forested areas of modern-day Sweden. Some place names containing the word "hult" can be found throughout the country, such as Hultsfrede in Småland and Hultaholm in Västergötland.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Hult was Nils Hult, a Swedish landowner and farmer who lived in the 16th century. His descendant, Petter Hult (1636-1709), was a renowned Swedish botanist and one of the pioneers of modern plant taxonomy.
Another notable individual with the surname Hult was Carl Gustaf Hult (1770-1846), a Swedish military officer who served as a colonel in the Swedish Army during the Napoleonic Wars. He was awarded the prestigious Pour le Mérite military order for his bravery in battle.
In the 19th century, Olof Hult (1812-1887) was a Swedish-American author and journalist who emigrated to the United States in the mid-1800s. He published several works in both Swedish and English, including books on Swedish culture and history.
One of the most famous bearers of the name in modern times was the Swedish botanist and explorer Eric Hult (1892-1983), who led several scientific expeditions to South America and the Caribbean in the early 20th century. His extensive research on the flora and fauna of these regions contributed significantly to the field of botany.
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Hult.
The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Hult was:
Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
---|---|---|
Non-Hispanic White Only | 95.18% | 850 |
Non-Hispanic Black Only | 0.90% | 8 |
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | (S)% | (S) |
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S) |
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | 1.01% | 9 |
Hispanic Origin | 1.79% | 16 |
Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.
Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Hult has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
White | 95.18% | 96.22% | -1.09% |
Black | 0.90% | 1.68% | -60.47% |
Asian and Pacific Islander | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
Two or More Races | 1.01% | 0.53% | 62.34% |
Hispanic | 1.79% | 1.16% | 42.71% |
The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.
The history and meaning of the name Hult was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
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<a href="http://namecensus.com/last-names/hult-surname-popularity/">Hult last name popularity, history, and meaning</a>
"Hult last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on July 5, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/hult-surname-popularity/.
"Hult last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/hult-surname-popularity/. Accessed 5 July, 2025
Hult last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/hult-surname-popularity/.
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