Halli
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "rock, cliff, slope".
Name Census estimates that about 1,317 living Americans carry the first name Halli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Halli today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Halli births was 2000 (78 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Halli. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Halli with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 260,254 Americans
Peak year
2000
78 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,021
Tracked since 1962
Census
Halli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,239 people with the first name Halli, which placed it at #10,652 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,652
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,239 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Halli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Halli is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Halli described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Halli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.5% · 1,084
- Two or more races4.6% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 40
- Black or African American2.6% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 10
Popularity
Halli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Halli from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 601 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Halli by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Halli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hallis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, Utah, Ohio recorded the most babies named Halli, while Illinois, Georgia, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Halli
The given name Halli is believed to have its origins in the Old Norse language, dating back to the Viking era in Scandinavia. It is derived from the Old Norse word "hallr," which means "rock" or "stone." This name was likely given to children born in rocky or mountainous regions, or perhaps to those who were considered strong and resilient like a rock.
In ancient Norse mythology, there are references to a figure named Halle or Halli, who was said to be a loyal companion of the god Odin. This character was often depicted as a steadfast and reliable warrior, further reinforcing the connection between the name and qualities of strength and fortitude.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Halli can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of literary works that date back to the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas tell stories of the Viking Age and often feature characters with names like Halli, reflecting the cultural significance of this name during that time period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Halli. One example is Halli Steinsson (1925-1998), an Icelandic poet and writer who was renowned for his lyrical works and contributions to Icelandic literature. Another prominent figure was Halli Magnússon (1908-1985), an Icelandic politician who served as the Prime Minister of Iceland from 1963 to 1970.
In the realm of sports, Halli Ármannsson (born 1989) is a professional Icelandic footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for the Swedish club AIK. In the field of music, Halli Reynis (born 1982) is an Icelandic singer-songwriter known for his unique blend of folk and pop music.
Lastly, Halli Árni Magnússon (1864-1928) was an Icelandic philologist and scholar who made significant contributions to the study of Old Norse literature and language. He is particularly renowned for his work on the Eddas, a collection of Old Norse poems and stories.
These individuals serve as examples of the rich history and cultural significance of the name Halli, which has been carried by poets, politicians, athletes, musicians, and scholars throughout the centuries.
People
Halli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Halli as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Halli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Halli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,317 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Halli going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 260,254 US residents.
Is Halli a common name?
We classify Halli as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,354 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Halli most popular?
The single biggest year for Halli was 2000, when 78 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Halli is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Halli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,239 people with the name Halli, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,652 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Halli in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Halli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Halli appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,251 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Halli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Halli is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Halli most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Halli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.5% (1,084 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Halli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Halli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Halli in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Halli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Halli in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Halli can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Halli?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.