Hugo
Top 1000
About Hugo
Hugo, the Latin form of Hugh, has more heft and energy than the original -- and of course we love names that end (or begin, for that matter) with an o. This one is especially appealing because it's backed up by lots of solid history and European style.
Hugo is one of those names that misses by a single year ranking in the Top 1000 for its entire history. It fell off the list in 1948, the height of post-WWII pro-American fervor, before heading back up.
Hugh has held steady in the middle of the US Top 1000 for more than 40 years now, but we predict might be headed for the kind of popularity it enjoys in the rest of the English-speaking world and many European countries.
Hugo ranks in or near the Top 100 in countries and cultures as diverse as Sweden and Spain, France and Finland. It's also a favorite boys' name on Nameberry, usually a harbinger of future success in the US as a whole.
In the seventh Harry Potter novel, Ron and Hermione bestow the name Hugo on their son. Hugo Strange, meanwhile, is a longtime adversary of Batman.
Real-life Hugos include Hugo Chavez, the late president of Venezuela, and the fashion world's Hugo Boss. In the more distant past there was the distinguished Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.
Trivia tidbit: The annual awards for sci-fi writing are called the Hugos, honoring early genre writer Hugo Gernsback.
Pronounced HYU-go.
As of October 2026, Hugo ranked #378 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #263 in 1881, Nameberry popularity #34.
Editor's take: The name Hugo is a boy's name of German, Spanish, Portuguese origin meaning "mind, intellect".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #436 | 695 | 361.8 |
| 2015 | #432 | 708 | 369.4 |
| 2016 | #430 | 723 | 381 |
| 2017 | #416 | 750 | 405.2 |
| 2018 | #422 | 733 | 403.6 |
| 2019 | #462 | 648 | 361.2 |
| 2020 | #421 | 709 | 410.8 |
| 2021 | #437 | 714 | 408.1 |
| 2022 | #401 | 799 | 457.6 |
| 2023 | #415 | 769 | 449.6 |
| 2024 | #403 | 797 | 462.6 |
| 2025 | #378 | 837 | 490 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Hugo.
- Oscar
- Arthur
- Otto
- Felix
- Otis
- Gordie
- Odis
- Lawrie
- Phineas
- Archie
- Amos
- August
- Gideon
- Linus
- Jude
- Percy
- Erin
- Simon
- Rupert
- Louis
Hugo on lists
Famous Hugos
- Hugo Grotius (b. 1583)
Dutch jurist and "father" of international law
- Hugo Chavez
late President of Venezuela
- Hugo Boss
German fashion designer
- Hugo Weaving
Australian actor
- Hugo Wolf
Austrian composer
- Hugo Theorell
winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- Hugo Pierre Leclercq aka Madeon
a French electronic music producer
- Hugo Davis (b. 1996)
son of actor Phil Davis
- Hugo James Wentzel (b. 1999)
son of Amy Carter; grandson of U.S. President Jimmy Carter
- Hugo Häkkinen (b. 2001)
son of racing driver Mika Häkkinen
- Hugo Steuer (b. 2003)
son of skater Ingo Steuer
- Hugo Bernard Tambor (b. 2009)
son of actor Jeffrey Tambor
- Hugo Verea
son of actors Gabrielle Anwar and John Verea
- Hugo Wilson Dallas (b. 2016)
son of Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas
- Victor Hugo
French novelist
- Hugo Lloris
French goalkeeper (Team Captain during France's 2018 World Cup win)
Hugo in pop culture
- Hugo "Hurley" Reyes
character on TV's "Lost"
- Hugo Granger
Weasley, son of Ron and Hermione in the Harry Potter series
- Hugo Cabret
character in novel "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" and film "Hugo"
- Hugo Stiglitz
character in film "Inglourious Basterds"
- Hugo Vega
character in video game "Dream Daddy"
- Hugo
Character in 'The Boy Who Dared'
- Hugo
a mole,like Mabu from the video game "Skylanders"
- Hugo Horton
character on British TV series 'The Vicar of Dibley'
- Hugo
character in Belgian game "OFF"
- Hugo Carmody
character in books by P. G. Wodehouse
- Hugo Weschler
boy who gets slapped in TV series "The Slap"
- Hugo Simpson
twin of Bart Simpson in an alternate universe episode of "The Simpsons"
- Hurricane Hugo
1989 hurricane
- Hugo
dragon character in animated movie "Barbie as Rapunzel"
- Hugo Habercore
nemesis to Bob and former fiancé of Linda in "Bob's Burgers"
- Hugo Strange
DC comics villain and member of batman's rogues gallery
- Hugo Argreste
the name given to Marinette and Adrien's son in Marinette's fantasy in Miraculous Tales of Ladybug & Chat Noir
- Hugo (cocktail)
aperitif based on prosecco and elderflower syrup
- Hugo
carnival worker in Lemony Snicket's "A Series Of Unfortunate Events"