Hao
A Chinese masculine name meaning "good, prosperous, joyful".
Name Census estimates that about 437 living Americans carry the first name Hao. It is a predominantly male name (98.9% of registrations). The average person named Hao today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hao births was 1992 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hao. 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 Hao with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
437
~ 1 in 784,335 Americans
Peak year
1992
20 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2021 SSA rank
#12,796
Tracked since 1976
Census
Hao in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,577 people with the first name Hao, which placed it at #2,732 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
#2,732
National first-name rank
People counted
8.6K
8,577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hao
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hao is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). 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 Hao 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 Hao at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.4% · 8,270
- White2.4% · 206
- Two or more races0.4% · 36
- Black or African American0.4% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Hao
Hao leans heavily male at 98.9% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Hao as a male name
- Ranked #12,796 in 2021
- 5 male births in 2021
- Peak: 1992 (20 births)
Hao as a female name
- Ranked #14,297 in 1996
- 5 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1996 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hao on both sides of the split. Of the 8,585 people counted with this name, 6,614 were male (77.0%) and 1,971 were female (23.0%).
Popularity
Hao: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hao from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 129 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
Hao 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 Hao during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Haos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hao
The given name Hao has its origins in Chinese culture, with the name being a transliteration of the Chinese word "好" (hǎo), which means "good" or "excellent" in Mandarin Chinese. This name has been used in China for centuries, with records of its usage dating back to ancient times.
One of the earliest known references to the name Hao can be found in the Classic of Poetry (Shijing), which is one of the oldest existing collections of Chinese poetry, dating back to the early Zhou Dynasty (1046–771 BC). In this text, the name Hao appears in several poems, often used as a term of praise or admiration.
Throughout Chinese history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Hao. One of the earliest was Hao Jing, a renowned scholar and calligrapher who lived during the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). He is known for his contributions to the study of the Chinese classic texts and for his skilled calligraphy.
Another famous figure was Hao Chunchen, a prominent military general and strategist during the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127 AD). He played a crucial role in defending the Song Empire against the Liao and Western Xia kingdoms, and his tactics and strategies were widely studied and emulated by future generations of military leaders.
In the realm of literature, Hao Qiuren, a poet and scholar from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD), left a lasting legacy. He was renowned for his mastery of classical Chinese poetry and his contributions to the development of the ci poetry form.
During the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912 AD), Hao Yulin was a highly respected scholar and official who served as a Grand Secretary, one of the highest positions in the imperial government. He was known for his integrity, diligence, and dedication to the principles of Confucianism.
More recently, Hao Ping, a prominent Chinese philosopher and thinker of the 20th century, made significant contributions to the study of Chinese culture and the interpretation of classical texts. His works explored the relationship between traditional Chinese thought and modern ideologies, and he played a vital role in the intellectual discourse of his time.
While these are just a few examples, the name Hao has been borne by numerous individuals throughout Chinese history, each leaving their mark in various fields such as literature, philosophy, military strategy, and governance. The name's association with excellence and virtue has made it a respected and enduring choice for parents in Chinese culture.
People
Hao + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hao 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
Hao: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hao?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 437 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hao 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 784,335 US residents.
Is Hao a common name?
We classify Hao as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 447 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hao most popular?
The single biggest year for Hao was 1992, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hao is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hao in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,577 people with the name Hao, or 2.84 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,732 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 Hao 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 Hao?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hao on both sides of the split. Of the 8,585 people counted with this name, 6,614 were male (77.0%) and 1,971 were female (23.0%). 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 Hao?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hao is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). 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 Hao most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hao in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (8,270 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 Hao in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hao a male name?
Yes, 98.9% of people registered as Hao in the SSA data are male. 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 Hao still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hao 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 Hao 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 named Hao?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.