Huxley
Huxley was the 736th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 357 babies. Its best year was 2020, when it ranked 538th with 526 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 224 places. More babies were named Huxley in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Meaning Hucc's clearing (English place name) · Old English
Say it HUKS-lee /ˈhʌksli/
- Rank in 2025
- #736 boys, down 198 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 357boys
- Girls and boys
- 10% girls, 90% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2020526 babies
- Total since 1880
- 5,230babies recorded
What does the name Huxley mean?
Huxley is an English place name and surname from Cheshire. Wiktionary explains it as the Old English personal name Hucc plus lēah, a woodland clearing, so "Hucc's clearing," and notes that the first part might instead be Old English husc, scorn. Wiktionary notes a Canadian hamlet named after the scientist Thomas Henry Huxley. US records show Huxley as a first name only from 2002.
Hucc (Old English, “personal name (reconstructed)”)lēah (Old English, “woodland clearing”)
How sure is this? Probable. Wiktionary gives an alternative first element (husc, 'scorn').
Related names: Hux, Huxton.
See also: English names, names that mean meadow, hill or valley, names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Huxley' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Nicknames for Huxley
The usual nicknames for Huxley are Hux.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Boys, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hux | Modern | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are boys given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Huxleys go by each one.
Huxley popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #4,017 | #736 | 36 | 357 |
| 2020 | #3,356 | #538 | 46 | 526 |
| 2010 | — | #2,842 | — | 42 |
| 2000 | — | — | — | — |
| 1990 | — | — | — | — |
| 1980 | — | — | — | — |
| 1970 | — | — | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Huxley, counting every spelling?
Huxley is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #682 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #736 for Huxley on its own. Together these spellings went to 392 boys in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huxley | 357 | #736 | 2,089 |
| Huxlee | 35 | #3,338 | 187 |
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 Huxley?
357 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Huxley (0.10 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Huxley 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 23 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Huxley.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Huxley?
About 4,700 people born in the US named Huxley are alive today, with a median age of 6; half are between 4 and 9. That makes Huxley a young name: most people with it are children.
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.
Huxley by state
How common Huxley was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in South Dakota (7.8×), Iowa (4.9×), Nebraska (4.8×), Wisconsin (3.7×), Minnesota (3.4×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Arizona.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Huxley: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Huxley, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Huxley · Sibling names for Huxley
Questions about the name Huxley
What does Huxley mean?
Huxley means “Hucc's clearing (English place name)” (Old English origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Huxley?
Huxley was the 736th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 357 babies. Its best year was 2020, when it ranked 538th with 526 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 224 places. More babies were named Huxley in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Is Huxley a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 10% girls, 90% boys given the name Huxley in the US.
Where is Huxley most popular?
In 2021–2025, Huxley was most common in South Dakota (1.88 per 1,000 boys), followed by Iowa and Nebraska.