Hines
A unisex name of English origin meaning "from the hay meadows".
Name Census estimates that about 46 living Americans carry the first name Hines. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hines today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hines births was 1921 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hines. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hines. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
46
~ 1 in 7,451,181 Americans
Peak year
1921
7 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2018 SSA rank
#12,874
Tracked since 1918
Census
Hines in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 177 people with the first name Hines, which placed it at #41,393 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
#41,393
National first-name rank
People counted
177
177 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hines
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hines is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Black (28.8%) and Hispanic (8.5%). 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 Hines 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 Hines at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.4% · 98
- Black or African American28.8% · 51
- Hispanic or Latino8.5% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.4% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 4
- Two or more races1.7% · 3
Popularity
Hines: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hines from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 22 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hines 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 Hines 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 Hines
The given name Hines has its origins rooted in the Old English language and culture, dating back to the 5th century CE. It is derived from the Old English word "hine," which means "servant" or "household retainer." This suggests that the name was initially used to refer to individuals who held a position of service or were part of a household staff.
The earliest recorded use of the name Hines can be traced back to the 8th century CE, where it appeared in various Anglo-Saxon chronicles and records. During this period, the name was primarily associated with individuals of lower social status or those employed in domestic roles.
As time progressed, the name Hines evolved and gained broader recognition. In the 12th century, it was mentioned in the "Domesday Book," a comprehensive record of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This reference indicates that the name had gained wider usage and was not solely limited to those in servitude.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Hines was Hines the Scribe, a 9th-century monk and scholar from the Kingdom of Mercia in present-day England. He was renowned for his skills in calligraphy and his contributions to the preservation of religious texts and manuscripts.
In the 14th century, Sir Hines de Burgh was a prominent figure in the court of King Edward III. He served as a knight and military commander, participating in several campaigns during the Hundred Years' War against France.
During the Renaissance period, Hines Baskerville, born in 1492, was a renowned English printer and typographer. He is best known for designing the typeface that bears his name, which is still widely used today.
In the 18th century, Hines Woodsworth, a British explorer and naturalist, made significant contributions to the study of flora and fauna in the Americas. His detailed accounts and illustrations of various plant and animal species were highly regarded by his contemporaries.
Moving into the 19th century, Hines Whitman, born in 1819, was an influential American poet and essayist. He is considered one of the most influential poets in the English language and is widely celebrated for his works, such as "Leaves of Grass."
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Hines throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence and the diverse backgrounds of those who have carried this name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Hines
People
Hines + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hines 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
Hines: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hines?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 46 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hines 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 7,451,181 US residents.
Is Hines a common name?
We classify Hines as "Very Rare". It ranks above 53.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 79 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hines most popular?
The single biggest year for Hines was 1921, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hines is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hines in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 177 people with the name Hines, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,393 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 Hines 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 Hines?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hines leans strongly male. 146 people counted with this name were male (82.0%), compared with 32 female bearers (18.0%). 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 Hines?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hines is White at 55.4%. The next largest groups are Black (28.8%) and Hispanic (8.5%). 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 Hines most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hines in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (98 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 Hines in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hines a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hines 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 Hines still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hines 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 Hines 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 Hines?
See how many Americans are named Hines on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.