Hays
An English surname derived from the medieval personal name "Hays" or "Hayes."
Name Census estimates that about 458 living Americans carry the first name Hays. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Hays today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hays births was 2024 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hays. 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.
People living today
458
~ 1 in 748,372 Americans
Peak year
2024
25 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,225
Tracked since 1880
Census
Hays in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 479 people with the first name Hays, which placed it at #21,270 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
#21,270
National first-name rank
People counted
479
479 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hays
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hays is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Black (4.6%) and Hispanic (1.9%). 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 Hays 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 Hays at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 438
- Black or African American4.6% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 9
- Two or more races1.3% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Hays
Out of the 728 babies given the name Hays since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Hays as a male name
- Ranked #4,225 in 2024
- 25 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (25 births)
Hays as a female name
- Ranked #16,055 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hays leans strongly male. 440 people counted with this name were male (90.0%), compared with 49 female bearers (10.0%).
Popularity
Hays: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hays from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 153 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hays remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hays 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 Hays during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hays' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hays
The name Hays has its origins in the medieval English language, deriving from the Old English word "hæg," which means "hedged area" or "enclosure." It is believed to have first emerged as a surname in the 12th century, referring to someone who lived near or worked in an enclosed area or enclosure.
During the Middle Ages, the name Hays was particularly prevalent in the regions of northern England and Scotland. It was often associated with landowners or individuals who lived in rural areas surrounded by hedges or enclosures. The earliest recorded instances of the name Hays as a given name date back to the 13th century, though its usage was relatively rare compared to its more common application as a surname.
One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name Hays was Sir John Hays, a Scottish nobleman who lived in the late 14th century. He was a prominent figure during the reign of King Robert III of Scotland and played a significant role in the battles against the English during the Scottish Wars of Independence.
In the 16th century, William Hays (1546-1622) was a renowned English mathematician and navigator. He is best known for his contributions to the development of navigation techniques and the use of celestial bodies for determining a ship's position at sea.
Another notable figure was Sir Thomas Hays (1602-1681), an English politician and member of the House of Commons during the English Civil War. He was a staunch supporter of the Parliamentary cause and played a crucial role in the negotiations that led to the eventual restoration of the monarchy under King Charles II.
In the realm of literature, John Hays (1838-1905) was an American poet and editor. He is best known for his work "Pike County Ballads and Other Pieces," which celebrated the rural life and folklore of the Midwestern United States.
Lastly, Hays County in Texas was named after John Coffee Hays (1817-1883), a renowned Texas Ranger and military officer who played a significant role in the Texas Revolution and the Mexican-American War. His bravery and leadership during these conflicts earned him a lasting legacy in the region.
While the name Hays has its roots in medieval England and Scotland, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and regions over the centuries, with individuals bearing this name making noteworthy contributions in fields ranging from politics and literature to mathematics and military service.
People
Hays + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hays 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
Hays: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hays?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 458 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hays 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 748,372 US residents.
Is Hays a common name?
We classify Hays as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 728 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hays most popular?
The single biggest year for Hays was 2024, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hays is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hays in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 479 people with the name Hays, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,270 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 Hays 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 Hays?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hays leans strongly male. 440 people counted with this name were male (90.0%), compared with 49 female bearers (10.0%). 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 Hays?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hays is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Black (4.6%) and Hispanic (1.9%). 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 Hays most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hays in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (438 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 Hays in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hays a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Hays 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 Hays still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hays 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 Hays 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 Americans are named Hays?
See how many Americans are named Hays on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.