Hugh

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Gender: Male Meaning of Hugh: "mind, intellect" Origin of Hugh: English from German Hugh's Popularity in 2017: #836

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The name Hugh is a boy's name of German, English, Irish origin meaning "mind, intellect". Hugh is ranked #836 on our popularity charts and is often added to lists like British Boy Names and discussed in our forums with posts like "Names on NB that make you go WOW!".

From the experts:

Patrician to the core, Hugh was firmly in the Top 100 until 1903. Now it's used very quietly, though the name is still in the Top 1000.

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.

Find other names based on Hugh using our baby name generator.

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Famous People Named Hugh

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Hugh Capet, King of the Franks
Hugh Dillon, Canadian singer and actor
Hugh John Mungo Grant, English actor
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
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

Pop Culture References for the name Hugh

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Hugh of Borg, character on "Star Trek, The Next Generation"
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