Hugh

English from German

"mind, intellect"

Hugh Origin and Meaning

The name Hugh is a boy's name of German, English, Irish origin meaning "mind, intellect".

Patrician to the core, Hugh was firmly in the Top 100 until 1903. It's never achieved those heights again, though it has always managed to remain in the Top 1000, scraping bottom at literally Number 1000 in 2006 before reversing course and heading back upwards.

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.

Hugh Rank in US Top 1000

# 763 in the US

Hugh Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 284 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Hugh

• 763 US 2024
• 284 Nameberry 2025
• 627 Future 2028
• 417 England 2023
• 199 Scotland 2022

20 Names Similar to Hugh

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Hugh.

• Franklin
• Edwin
• Wallace
• Walter
• Winston
• Angus
• Sidney
• Rupert
• Reuben
• Hamish
• Ralph
• Gus
• Amos
• Lewis
• Calvin
• Lawrence
• Frederick
• Ernest
• Malcolm
• Alfie

Famous People Named Hugh

• 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

The name 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

International Variations of the name Hugh

• Hugo Danish
• Hugón Spanish
• Uguecria Spanish
• Aodg Irish Gaelic
• Hugolino Spanish
• Hugues Spanish
• Huw Welsh
• Ugo Spanish
• Ugolino Spanish
• Huguito Spanish
• Ugone Spanish
• Hugin Spanish