Hugh
Top 1000
About Hugh
Tough yet gentle in look and sound, Hugh was a Top 100 choice in the US back in the late 19th-century and while it's never reached those heights again, it has always managed to remain in the Top 1000 — all bar 2008 that is when it dropped just below. Since then, it has remained familiar but not overused in the US, featuring outside the Top 500.
Used sine at least the 10th-century when it was borne by a French king, it was brought to England by the Normans and became a popular choice in the Medieval period. Generally considered a variation of the Germanic Hugo, with the wise and imaginative meaning of "mind, intellect", it is also used as an Anglicized form of the Gaelic names Aodh ("fiery one") and Ùisdean ("stone island; stone of good fortune") owing to the pronunciations EH, UGH, and OOSH-chan
As such, Hugh has always been particularly prevalent among the Irish—there have been 20 Irish Saint Hughs, and it's traditionally associated with the O'Donnell clan. Hugh was an early immigrant to the New World, where there were two Hughs in the first English-speaking settlement in America. Hugh's biggest drawback is its sound, barely more than an exhaled breath.
Actor Hugh Jackman adds a dash of the romantic hero, and other prominent Hughs include Hugh Laurie (born James Hugh), Hugh Grant, and Hugh Dancy. Then there's Hugh Hefner, known to the world as Hef.
Hew and Huw are the distinctively—probably too distinctively—spelled Welsh forms.
A modern alternate option would be the surname Hughes, which would fit in well with Hayes or Wells.
As of October 2026, Hugh ranked #732 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #69 in 1887, Nameberry popularity #163.
Editor's take: The name Hugh is a boy's name of German, English, Irish origin meaning "mind, intellect; fiery one".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #865 | 255 | 132.8 |
| 2015 | #848 | 265 | 138.3 |
| 2016 | #850 | 264 | 139.1 |
| 2017 | #838 | 264 | 142.6 |
| 2018 | #805 | 281 | 154.7 |
| 2019 | #799 | 287 | 160 |
| 2020 | #748 | 324 | 187.7 |
| 2021 | #741 | 343 | 196.1 |
| 2022 | #804 | 312 | 178.7 |
| 2023 | #784 | 323 | 188.8 |
| 2024 | #763 | 332 | 192.7 |
| 2025 | #732 | 360 | 210.8 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Hugh.
- Franklin
- Edwin
- Walter
- Winston
- Wallace
- Rupert
- Reuben
- Angus
- Lawrence
- Ralph
- Lewis
- Malcolm
- Sidney
- Íris
- Gus
- Calvin
- Frederick
- Amos
- Ernest
- Hamish
Hugh on lists
Famous Hughs
- Hugh Dillon
Canadian singer and actor
- Hugh John Mungo Grant
English actor
- Hugh Capet
King of the Franks
- Hugh Richard Bonneville (Williams)
English actor
- (James) Hugh Calum Laurie
English actor and musician
- Hugh Michael Horace Dancy
English actor and model
- (Peter) Hugh Dennis
English actor/comedian
- Hugh John Lofting
English children's novelist
- Hugh Marston Hefner
American founder of Playboy
- Hugh Malcolm Downs
American TV journalist, on ABC's 20/20
- Hugh Everett III
American physicist
- (Eugene) Hugh Beaumont
American actor
- Hugh Martin
American composer
- Hugh Brown Brown
American Mormon leader
- Hugh Ramopolo Masekela
South African jazz trumpeter
- Hugh Michael Jackman
Australian actor
- Hugh Fearnley
Whittingstall, English celebrity chef
- Hugh Seymour Walpole
New Zealand,English novelist
- Hugh Trumble
Australian cricketer
- Hugh de Neville
chief forester under Kings Richard I, John, and Henry III of England
- Hugh Duffy
American baseball player
- Hugh Doggett Scott
Jr., U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
- Hugh Leo Carey
U.S. Congressman and 51st Governor of New York
- Hugh Hu (Ge)
Chinese actor
- Hugh Howard Rosenberg
son of actors Marg Helgenberger and Alan Rosenberg
Hugh in pop culture
- Hugh of Borg(Third of Five) character on "Star Trek
The Next Generation" & on the upcoming series
- Hugh of Harrowfield
character in "Daughter Of The Forest" & "Son Of The Shadows" by Juliet Marillier
- Hugh Normous
character on "Wizards of Waverley Place"
- Hugh O'Conner
character in video game 'Ace Attorney'
- Hugh Stanbury
character in "He Knew He Was Right" (1869) by Anthony Trollope
- Hugh Collins
character from the tv Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
- Hugh Apiston
character from Ransom Riggs' "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"
- Hugh Thanasia
character in "Sims" series
- Hugh Culber
Medical officer on the USS Discovery on the TV series, Star Trek: Discovery
- "Sir Hugh"
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- "Hugh Spencer's Feats in France"
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- The Boys
Hugh Campbell
Variations & nicknames
- HugoDanish
- HugónSpanish
- UguecriaSpanish
- AodgIrish Gaelic
- HugolinoSpanish
- HuguesSpanish
- HuwWelsh
- UgoSpanish
- UgolinoSpanish
- HuguitoSpanish
- UgoneSpanish
- HuginSpanish
More nicknames
- Hughie