Hudson
Top 1000
About Hudson
Hudson has risen quickly up the charts over the past 30 years, getting a lot of its style value from New York's Hudson River. That makes it a nature name and a place name that's also got the fashion gloss of New York City.
The Hudson River was named for 17th century British explorer Henry Hudson, who also gave him name to Canada's Hudson Bay. Hudson has long been a prominent surname. Along with Henry, there was also heartthrob Rock, director Hugh, the musical Hudson brothers, and Kate Hudson today.
As a first name, Hudson has been given to several celebrity children, including the sons of Robert Herjavec, Marcia Gay Harden, Gena Lee Nolan, and Drew Lachey.
Hudson literally means 'son of Hudd', which was a nickname for both Hugh and Richard in the Middle Ages. Streamlined spelling Hud was the name of the macho title character of an iconic Paul Newman film; John Mellencamp has a son named Hud.
James Barbour pulled a gender switch when he named his daughter Hudson in 2008.
Along with its popularity in the US, Hudson also ranks in the Top 100 in other English-speaking countries. Its popularity has not, however, extended to other European countries, many of which have laws against using surnames as first names.
Pronounced HUD-sun.
As of October 2026, Hudson ranked #17 in US births in 2025 SSA, Nameberry popularity #103.
Editor's take: The name Hudson is a boy's name of English origin meaning "Hugh's son".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #80 | 5,241 | 2,728.4 |
| 2015 | #65 | 6,049 | 3,155.9 |
| 2016 | #61 | 6,127 | 3,228.6 |
| 2017 | #64 | 5,788 | 3,127 |
| 2018 | #55 | 6,576 | 3,620.8 |
| 2019 | #50 | 6,493 | 3,618.9 |
| 2020 | #43 | 6,848 | 3,967.4 |
| 2021 | #34 | 7,624 | 4,357.9 |
| 2022 | #27 | 7,917 | 4,534.3 |
| 2023 | #21 | 7,951 | 4,648.1 |
| 2024 | #22 | 7,990 | 4,637.6 |
| 2025 | #17 | 8,583 | 5,025 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Hudson.
- Sawyer
- Parker
- Wyatt
- Lincoln
- Beckett
- Finley
- Emerson
- Grayson
- Bennett
- Holden
- Brooks
- Weston
- Nolan
- Rylin
- Easton
- Cooper
- Hayden
- Flynn
- Rhett
- Elliott
Hudson on lists
Famous Hudsons
- Hudson David Yang
American actor
- Hudson Lowe
Anglo,Irish Governor of St. Helena and "jailer" of Napoleon Bonaparte
- (James) Hudson Taylor
English missionary to China
- Hudson Stuck
British,American mountain climber
- Hudson Felipe Gonçalves
Brazilian footballer
- Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos
Brazilian footballer
- Hudson Santos de Souza
Brazilian middle distance runner
- Hudson Maxim
American inventor of smokeless gunpowder
- (Wilmot) Hudson Fysh
Australian aviator and businessman
- Henry Hudson
English explorer
- (Hudson) Riley Hawk
son of skateboarder Tony Hawk
- Hudson Scheel Harden (b. 2004)
son of actress Marcia Gay Harden and Thaddaeus Scheel; twin of sister Julitta Dee Scheel
- Hudson Oliver
son of comedian Jonn Oliver
- Hudson Lee Hulse (b. 2006)
son of actress Gena Lee Nolin and ice hockey player Cale Hulse
- Hudson Kirk (b. 2010)
son of actress Greer Robson and Scott Kirk
- Hudson Nicholas Lachey (b. 2010)
son of singer Drew Lachey
- Hudson Stone (b. 2011)
son of Lindsay Price and chef Curtis Stone
- Hudson Evangelista (b. 2011)
son of actor Allen Evangelista
- Hudson James Sebastian
son of singer Guy Sebastian
- Hudson Sawa (b. 2014)
son of actor Devon Sawa
- Hudson Harold Hardwick
son of NFL player Nick Hardwick
- Hudson Fromm
son of beauty queen Beth Hood and songwriter Andrew Fromm
- Hudson Robert Herjavec (b. 2018)
son of TV personalities Robert Herjavec and Kym Johnson; twin of sister Haven Mae
- Jake Hudson Cropper
son of musician Jason Cropper of Weezer
- Hudson Fasching
American ice hockey player
- Hudson Williams
Canadian actor
Hudson in pop culture
- "Hudson Hawk
" 1991 film and its main character
- Hudson Thomas
character in The Sims series
- Finn Hudson
character in "Glee"
- Hudson
song by the band Vampire Weekend
- Hudson
New York, city
- Hudson Taylor
Irish/English band
- Hudson River
in New York
- Hudson Bay
large body of water in North,Eastern Canada
- The Fabulous Hudson Hornet
character in Disney Pixar's 'Cars'