Honestee
Derived from "honesty", a virtue name reflecting integrity and truthfulness.
Name Census estimates that about 190 living Americans carry the first name Honestee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Honestee today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Honestee births was 2016 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Honestee. 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
190
~ 1 in 1,803,970 Americans
Peak year
2016
18 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,136
Tracked since 2001
Popularity
Honestee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Honestee from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 110 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Honestee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Honestee 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 Honestee 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 Honestee
The name Honestee has its origins in Middle English, derived from the Old French word "honeste," which itself was derived from the Latin word "honestus," meaning honorable or virtuous. The name likely emerged in the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century, as a reflection of the increasing emphasis on moral values and virtuous behavior during that time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Honestee can be found in the writings of the renowned English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who lived from around 1343 to 1400. In his influential work, The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer mentions a character named Honestee, personifying the virtue of honesty and integrity.
During the Renaissance period, the name Honestee gained popularity among the upper classes, who valued virtuous qualities and sought to instill them in their children. One notable figure bearing this name was Honestee Cromwell, born in 1598, the daughter of the prominent English military and political leader Oliver Cromwell.
In the 17th century, the name Honestee appeared in religious texts and sermons, reflecting the Puritan emphasis on moral uprightness and piety. A famous example is Honestee Winthrop, born in 1631, the daughter of John Winthrop, the founder and first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
As the name Honestee spread across different cultures and regions, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Honestee, Honesty, and Honestie. One notable bearer of the name was Honestee Franklin, born in 1706, a distant relative of the renowned American statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin.
Another prominent figure with this name was Honestee Washington, born in 1776, a descendant of the famous American President George Washington. Her name was a testament to the value placed on honesty and integrity by the founding fathers of the United States.
While the name Honestee may have fallen out of popularity in recent times, its historical significance remains a testament to the enduring importance of honesty and virtue across cultures and generations.
People
Honestee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Honestee 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
Honestee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Honestee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 190 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Honestee 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 1,803,970 US residents.
Is Honestee a common name?
We classify Honestee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 192 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Honestee most popular?
The single biggest year for Honestee was 2016, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Honestee is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Honestee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Honestee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Honestee 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 Honestee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Honestee 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 Honestee 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Honestee?
Want to know how many Americans are named Honestee? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.