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2025 data, released 8 May 2026

2025 data, released 8 May 2026

Hayes

Hayes was the 162nd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 2,240 babies. Its best year was 2024, when it ranked 160th with 2,255 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 377 places. More babies were named Hayes in the 2020s than in any other decade.

Meaning Origin uncertain · Old English, Irish

Say it HAYZ /heɪz/

Rank in 2025
#162 boys, up 83 places since 2020
Babies in 2025
2,240boys
Girls and boys
Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
Peak year
20242,255 babies
Total since 1880
21,886babies recorded

What does the name Hayes mean?

Hayes is a surname with two main sources, as Wiktionary and Wikipedia explain. In England it is a place name from Old English words for brushwood or an enclosed piece of land, such as hege and hæs. In Ireland it is the English form of Ó hAodha, 'descendant of Aodh', an old Irish name meaning 'fire'. As a boy's first name it is a recent American transfer from the surname.

hæs (Old English, “brushwood”)Ó hAodha (Irish, “descendant of Aodh”)Aodh (Irish, “fire”)

How sure is this? Uncertain. English place-name and Irish surname origins; which applies depends on the family.

Related names: Hays, Hughes.

See also: English names.

Sources for this meaning

Hayes popularity since 1880

01.25k2.5k3.75k5k 1900192019401960198020002020
Boys Babies per year, US, from Social Security records. Years with fewer than 5 babies show as zero.

A few girls are given the name too: 961 since 1993, 87 in 2025.

YearRank (boys)Babies (boys)
2025#1622,240
2020#2451,451
2010#937215
2000#1,55777
1990#2,81323
1980#2,77117
1970#2,15918
1960#1,50129
1950#1,27632
1940#1,26129
1930#1,31530
1920#1,19137
1910#95312
1900#65915
1890——
1880#7088

How popular is Hayes, counting every spelling?

Hayes is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #168 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #162 for Hayes on its own. Together these spellings went to 2,388 boys in 2025.

SpellingBabies 2025Official rankBabies 2021–2025
Hayes2,240#1629,631
Haze126#1,429539
Hays17#5,469102

Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.

How many kids will share the name Hayes?

2,240 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Hayes (0.62 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Hayes born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 4 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Hayes.

Chance of another Hayes in a class of 20under 1 in 50US, born 2025
Most likely inNebraskaabout 1 in 28 (2024)
Least likely inNew Jerseyunder 1 in 50 (2024)

Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.

How old are people named Hayes?

About 19,200 people born in the US named Hayes are alive today, with a median age of 6; half are between 3 and 10. That makes Hayes a young name: most people with it are children.

0–910–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960–6970–7980–8990+
Estimated people alive in the US with the name, by age, mid-2026. The darker bar holds the median age.

Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.

Hayes by state

How common Hayes was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Wyoming (6.5×), North Dakota (5.1×), South Dakota (5.1×), Montana (3.6×), Nebraska (3.5×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Mexico, Delaware, District of Columbia.

Alaska: fewer than 5 a yearAK–Maine: 1.7 per 1,000 babiesME1.7Wisconsin: 1.8 per 1,000 babiesWI1.8Vermont: fewer than 5 a yearVT–New Hampshire: 0.90 per 1,000 babiesNH0.90Washington: 0.96 per 1,000 babiesWA0.96Idaho: 2.5 per 1,000 babiesID2.5Montana: 4.0 per 1,000 babiesMT4.0North Dakota: 5.7 per 1,000 babiesND5.7Minnesota: 2.3 per 1,000 babiesMN2.3Illinois: 0.99 per 1,000 babiesIL0.99Michigan: 1.4 per 1,000 babiesMI1.4New York: 0.43 per 1,000 babiesNY0.43Massachusetts: 0.85 per 1,000 babiesMA0.85Oregon: 1.5 per 1,000 babiesOR1.5Nevada: 0.68 per 1,000 babiesNV0.68Wyoming: 7.3 per 1,000 babiesWY7.3South Dakota: 5.6 per 1,000 babiesSD5.6Iowa: 3.1 per 1,000 babiesIA3.1Indiana: 1.5 per 1,000 babiesIN1.5Ohio: 1.5 per 1,000 babiesOH1.5Pennsylvania: 1.0 per 1,000 babiesPA1.0New Jersey: 0.41 per 1,000 babiesNJ0.41Connecticut: 0.71 per 1,000 babiesCT0.71Rhode Island: fewer than 5 a yearRI–California: 0.64 per 1,000 babiesCA0.64Utah: 3.5 per 1,000 babiesUT3.5Colorado: 1.4 per 1,000 babiesCO1.4Nebraska: 4.0 per 1,000 babiesNE4.0Missouri: 1.8 per 1,000 babiesMO1.8Kentucky: 1.7 per 1,000 babiesKY1.7West Virginia: 1.6 per 1,000 babiesWV1.6Virginia: 1.0 per 1,000 babiesVA1.0Maryland: 0.90 per 1,000 babiesMD0.90Delaware: 0.40 per 1,000 babiesDE0.40Arizona: 0.96 per 1,000 babiesAZ0.96New Mexico: 0.30 per 1,000 babiesNM0.30Kansas: 3.1 per 1,000 babiesKS3.1Arkansas: 2.7 per 1,000 babiesAR2.7Tennessee: 1.8 per 1,000 babiesTN1.8North Carolina: 1.7 per 1,000 babiesNC1.7South Carolina: 2.1 per 1,000 babiesSC2.1District of Columbia: 0.41 per 1,000 babiesDC0.41Oklahoma: 2.2 per 1,000 babiesOK2.2Louisiana: 3.1 per 1,000 babiesLA3.1Mississippi: 2.4 per 1,000 babiesMS2.4Alabama: 1.8 per 1,000 babiesAL1.8Georgia: 1.3 per 1,000 babiesGA1.3Hawaii: 0.77 per 1,000 babiesHI0.77Texas: 1.3 per 1,000 babiesTX1.3Florida: 0.66 per 1,000 babiesFL0.66
Babies per 1,000 of the same sex, Hayes, boys, 2021–2025. Darker means more common.

Names with a similar history

These names rose and fell in step with Hayes: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Hayes, they share its era and feel.

Middle names for Hayes · Sibling names for Hayes

Questions about the name Hayes

What does Hayes mean?

The origin of Hayes is uncertain: English place-name and Irish surname origins; which applies depends on the family.

How popular is the name Hayes?

Hayes was the 162nd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 2,240 babies. Its best year was 2024, when it ranked 160th with 2,255 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 377 places. More babies were named Hayes in the 2020s than in any other decade.

Is Hayes a boy or girl name?

In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Hayes in the US.

Where is Hayes most popular?

In 2021–2025, Hayes was most common in Wyoming (7.26 per 1,000 boys), followed by North Dakota and South Dakota.