Hibo
A feminine name of Somali origin meaning "gift" or "blessing".
Name Census estimates that about 89 living Americans carry the first name Hibo. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hibo today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hibo births was 2016 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hibo. 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 Hibo with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hibo. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
89
~ 1 in 3,851,172 Americans
Peak year
2016
9 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2021 SSA rank
#16,142
Tracked since 1998
Census
Hibo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 539 people with the first name Hibo, which placed it at #19,554 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
#19,554
National first-name rank
People counted
539
539 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
95.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hibo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hibo is Black at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.2%) and White (0.9%). 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 Hibo 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 Hibo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American95.9% · 517
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 12
- White0.9% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 5
Popularity
Hibo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hibo from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 47 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hibo 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 Hibo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hibo
The name Hibo is believed to have originated from the Somali language, which is a part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. The name is thought to have been in use among the Somali people, who are predominantly located in the Horn of Africa region, including Somalia, Djibouti, and parts of Ethiopia and Kenya.
The name Hibo is derived from the Somali word "hibow," which means "to give." This suggests that the name may have been given to children with the intention of expressing a wish for them to be generous or philanthropic individuals.
While there are no definitive records of the name's appearance in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its linguistic roots in the Somali language indicate a long-standing history and cultural significance among the Somali people.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Hibo can be found in the works of Somali novelist and playwright Faarax Maxamed Nuur, who was born in 1924 and is considered a pioneer of Somali literature. His writings often featured characters with traditional Somali names, including Hibo.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hibo. One such person was Hibo Wardere (1913-1997), a Somali warrior and anti-colonial resistance fighter who played a significant role in the struggle against Italian colonization in the early 20th century.
Another notable figure was Hibo Nuura (1957-2013), a Somali-British writer and activist who advocated for women's rights and social justice. Her work explored issues of identity, displacement, and the experiences of Somali diaspora communities.
Hibo Salad (born 1976) is a Somali-American model and activist who has worked to raise awareness about human rights issues, particularly in Somalia. She has been recognized for her efforts to empower women and promote education in her home country.
Hibo Elmi (born 1989) is a Somali-British actress and writer known for her roles in television shows such as "Our Girl" and "The Honorable Woman." She has been praised for her portrayal of complex and nuanced characters, often exploring themes of identity and cultural representation.
Hibo Abdullahi (born 1991) is a Somali-Canadian activist and social entrepreneur who co-founded the non-profit organization "Hot Sundae," which aims to empower and educate young women in Somalia through various initiatives, including literacy programs and entrepreneurship training.
People
Hibo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hibo 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
Hibo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hibo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 89 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hibo 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 3,851,172 US residents.
Is Hibo a common name?
We classify Hibo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 90 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hibo most popular?
The single biggest year for Hibo was 2016, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hibo is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hibo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 539 people with the name Hibo, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,554 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 Hibo 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 Hibo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hibo leans strongly female. 515 people counted with this name were female (96.3%), compared with 20 male bearers (3.7%). 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 Hibo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hibo is Black at 95.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.2%) and White (0.9%). 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 Hibo most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Hibo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.9% (517 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 Hibo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hibo a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hibo 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 Hibo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hibo 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 Hibo 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 Hibo?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.