Hugh
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
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.
Hugh is also given to girls.
Pronounced HYU.
As of October 2026, Hugh ranked #732 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #69 in 1887, Nameberry popularity #242.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · boys | Births · boys | US rank · girls | Births · girls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #865 | 255 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #848 | 265 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #850 | 264 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #838 | 264 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #805 | 281 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #799 | 287 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #748 | 324 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #741 | 343 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #804 | 312 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #784 | 323 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #763 | 332 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #732 | 360 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Hugh.
Hugh on lists
Famous Hughs
- Hugh DillonBoy
Canadian singer and actor
- Hugh John Mungo GrantBoy
English actor
- Hugh CapetBoy
King of the Franks
- Hugh Richard Bonneville (Williams)Boy
English actor
- (James) Hugh Calum LaurieBoy
English actor and musician
- Hugh Michael Horace DancyBoy
English actor and model
- (Peter) Hugh DennisBoy
English actor/comedian
- Hugh John LoftingBoy
English children's novelist
- Hugh Marston HefnerBoy
American founder of Playboy
- Hugh Malcolm DownsBoy
American TV journalist, on ABC's 20/20
- Hugh Everett IIIBoy
American physicist
- (Eugene) Hugh BeaumontBoy
American actor
- Hugh MartinBoy
American composer
- Hugh Brown BrownBoy
American Mormon leader
- Hugh Ramopolo MasekelaBoy
South African jazz trumpeter
- Hugh Michael JackmanBoy
Australian actor
- Hugh FearnleyBoy
Whittingstall, English celebrity chef
- Hugh Seymour WalpoleBoy
New Zealand,English novelist
- Hugh TrumbleBoy
Australian cricketer
- Hugh de NevilleBoy
chief forester under Kings Richard I, John, and Henry III of England
- Hugh DuffyBoy
American baseball player
- Hugh Doggett ScottBoy
Jr., U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
- Hugh Leo CareyBoy
U.S. Congressman and 51st Governor of New York
- Hugh Hu (Ge)Boy
Chinese actor
- Hugh Howard RosenbergBoy
son of actors Marg Helgenberger and Alan Rosenberg
Hugh in pop culture
- Hugh of Borg(Third of Five) character on "Star TrekBoy
The Next Generation" & on the upcoming series
- Hugh of HarrowfieldBoy
character in "Daughter Of The Forest" & "Son Of The Shadows" by Juliet Marillier
- Hugh NormousBoy
character on "Wizards of Waverley Place"
- Hugh O'ConnerBoy
character in video game 'Ace Attorney'
- Hugh StanburyBoy
character in "He Knew He Was Right" (1869) by Anthony Trollope
- Hugh CollinsBoy
character from the tv Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
- Hugh ApistonBoy
character from Ransom Riggs' "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"
- Hugh ThanasiaBoy
character in "Sims" series
- Hugh CulberBoy
Medical officer on the USS Discovery on the TV series, Star Trek: Discovery
- "Sir Hugh"Boy
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- "Hugh Spencer's Feats in France"Boy
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
- The BoysBoy
Hugh Campbell