Honey
A feminine name meaning "sweet" or "golden nectar from bees".
Name Census estimates that about 3,734 living Americans carry the first name Honey. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Honey today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Honey births was 2024 (282 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Honey. 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 Honey with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.7K
~ 1 in 91,793 Americans
Peak year
2024
282 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#935
Tracked since 1912
Census
Honey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,614 people with the first name Honey, which placed it at #4,926 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
#4,926
National first-name rank
People counted
3.6K
3,614 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Honey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Honey is White at 50.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.7%) and Hispanic (15.0%). 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 Honey 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 Honey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.3% · 1,817
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.7% · 604
- Hispanic or Latino15.0% · 542
- Black or African American9.9% · 356
- Two or more races4.8% · 173
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.4% · 122
Popularity
Honey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Honey from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 918 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
Honey 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 Honey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Honeys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Honey, while Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Honey
The name Honey has a rich and intriguing history, originating from the English language and referring to the sweet, golden liquid produced by bees. This name gained popularity during the early modern period, particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was often used as a term of endearment or a pet name for a beloved individual.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Honey can be found in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, the renowned English poet of the 14th century. In his Canterbury Tales, he mentions a character named "Honey" in the Nun's Priest's Tale, suggesting that the name was in use during that era.
In the 16th century, the name Honey appeared in various literary works, including plays by William Shakespeare. In his play "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the character Mustardseed refers to the fairy Peaseblossom as "Honey." This usage further reinforced the association of the name with sweetness and affection.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Honey. One such figure was Honey Thaljiath (1932-2005), an Indian social activist and environmentalist known for her efforts in preserving the Western Ghats mountain range. Another remarkable individual was Honey Irani (1955-2003), an Iranian-American lawyer and human rights advocate who worked tirelessly to promote democracy and protect civil liberties.
In the realm of entertainment, Honey Rider (born 1946) is a British actress best known for her role as the first Bond girl, Honey Ryder, in the 1962 film "Dr. No." Honey Hollman (1920-1968) was an American singer and actress who performed in several Broadway musicals and films during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Additionally, Honey Lanry (1918-2012) was a renowned French fashion designer and couturier, known for her elegant and sophisticated creations that were favored by high society in the mid-20th century.
The name Honey has transcended cultural boundaries and continues to evoke a sense of sweetness, warmth, and affection. Its enduring appeal lies in its ability to capture the essence of these qualities, making it a timeless and cherished choice for parents around the world.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Honey
People
Honey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Honey 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
Honey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Honey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,734 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Honey 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 91,793 US residents.
Is Honey a common name?
We classify Honey as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,431 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Honey most popular?
The single biggest year for Honey was 2024, when 282 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Honey is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Honey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,614 people with the name Honey, or 1.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,926 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 Honey 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 Honey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Honey leans strongly female. 3,436 people counted with this name were female (95.0%), compared with 179 male bearers (5.0%). 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 Honey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Honey is White at 50.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.7%) and Hispanic (15.0%). 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 Honey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Honey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.3% (1,817 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 Honey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Honey a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Honey 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 Honey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Honey 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 Honey 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 Honey?
See how many Americans are named Honey on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.