Hope
Hope was the 352nd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 868 babies. Its best year was 1999, when it ranked 143rd; the most babies were born in 2000 (2,321). Over the last ten years it has moved down 127 places. More babies were named Hope in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Meaning hope (virtue name) · English
Say it HOHP /hoʊp/
- Rank in 2025
- #352 girls, down 149 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 868girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20002,321 babies
- Total since 1880
- 97,793babies recorded
What does the name Hope mean?
Hope is the English word used as a name, one of the virtue names, like Faith and Charity, that English Puritans adopted in the 16th and 17th centuries. Hope is also an English and Scottish surname for someone who lived in a hope, a small enclosed valley; Bardsley explains that sense. As a first name it is now almost always the virtue.
hopa (Old English, “hope”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Faith, Esperanza, Nadia.
See also: English names, virtue names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Hope', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (1901), s.v. 'Hope', Henry Frowde (public domain; Internet Archive scan)
- Dictionary.com Unabridged (based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary), with Collins English Dictionary, s.v. 'hope', Dictionary.com / Random House / HarperCollins
Hope popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 568 since 1880, 5 in 2025.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #352 | 868 |
| 2020 | #203 | 1,439 |
| 2010 | #240 | 1,313 |
| 2000 | #146 | 2,321 |
| 1990 | #266 | 1,056 |
| 1980 | #309 | 781 |
| 1970 | #295 | 986 |
| 1960 | #400 | 570 |
| 1950 | #367 | 474 |
| 1940 | #459 | 213 |
| 1930 | #434 | 239 |
| 1920 | #350 | 349 |
| 1910 | #520 | 62 |
| 1900 | #595 | 35 |
| 1890 | #511 | 26 |
| 1880 | #603 | 9 |
How popular is Hope, counting every spelling?
Hope has no other common spelling that sounds the same. Counting every name's spellings together, it ranks #382 for girls in 2025, against #352 on the official list, because Londyn/London/Londynn and Jazlyn/Jazlynn/Jazzlyn and Macie/Maci/Macy move ahead once their spellings are combined.
How many kids will share the name Hope?
868 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Hope (0.24 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Hope 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 10 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Hope.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Hope?
About 84,600 people born in the US named Hope are alive today, with a median age of 28; half are between 17 and 50. That makes Hope mostly worn by children and young adults.
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.
Hope by state
How common Hope was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Hawaii (6.3×), Alaska (5.6×), Rhode Island (4.2×), New Mexico (2.5×), Arkansas (2.1×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Hampshire, District of Columbia, Texas.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Hope: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Hope, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Hope · Sibling names for Hope
Questions about the name Hope
What does Hope mean?
Hope means “hope (virtue name)” (English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Hope?
Hope was the 352nd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 868 babies. Its best year was 1999, when it ranked 143rd; the most babies were born in 2000 (2,321). Over the last ten years it has moved down 127 places. More babies were named Hope in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Is Hope a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Hope in the US.
Where is Hope most popular?
In 2021–2025, Hope was most common in Hawaii (4.19 per 1,000 girls), followed by Alaska and Rhode Island.