Honor
A virtue name representing respect, esteem, and allegiance to moral principles.
Name Census estimates that about 3,949 living Americans carry the first name Honor. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Honor today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Honor births was 2021 (247 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Honor. 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 Honor with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Honor is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.9K
~ 1 in 86,795 Americans
Peak year
2021
247 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,577
Tracked since 1888
Census
Honor in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,735 people with the first name Honor, which placed it at #6,013 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
#6,013
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,735 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Honor
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Honor is White at 51.0%. The next largest groups are Black (25.8%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Honor 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 Honor at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.0% · 1,395
- Black or African American25.8% · 705
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 265
- Two or more races9.3% · 254
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 74
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 42
Gender
Gender distribution for Honor
Honor is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 4,438 total registrations, 1,385 (31.2%) were male and 3,053 (68.8%) were female.
Honor as a male name
- Ranked #1,577 in 2024
- 109 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (130 births)
Honor as a female name
- Ranked #2,102 in 2024
- 91 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (134 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Honor on both sides of the split. Of the 2,731 people counted with this name, 722 were male (26.4%) and 2,009 were female (73.6%).
Popularity
Honor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Honor from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,798 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Honor remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Honor 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 Honor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Honors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Honor, while Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 64 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Honor
The name Honor is derived from the Latin word "honos" which means esteem, respect, or honor. It first emerged as a given name in the late 16th century during the Renaissance period, a time of renewed interest in classical languages and culture.
Honor was initially used as a virtue name, reflecting the values of integrity, dignity, and moral uprightness. It gained popularity among the English aristocracy and gentry, who saw it as a noble and aspirational name for their children.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Honor is found in the 1576 work "The Paradise of Dainty Devices" by Richard Edwards, where a character is named "Mistress Honor." This literary reference suggests that the name was already in use by the late 16th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Honor. One of the earliest was Honor Prendergast (1621-1697), an English landowner and philanthropist who founded a school for the poor in her hometown of Carmarthenshire, Wales.
Another notable figure was Honor Blackman (1925-2020), the English actress best known for her roles as Pussy Galore in the James Bond film "Goldfinger" and as Cathy Gale in the 1960s TV series "The Avengers."
In literature, Honor Bright was the name of a character in the 1892 novel "The Prisoner of Zenda" by Anthony Hope. This fictional character embodied the virtues associated with the name, serving as a positive representation of honor and integrity.
The name Honor also has a historical connection to the American Revolution. Honor Merrill (1760-1850) was a patriot from Massachusetts who aided the Continental Army by providing food and shelter to troops during the war.
In more recent times, Honor Blackman (1923-2020), the English actress and singer, gained fame for her roles in films and television shows, bringing renewed attention to the name Honor.
While the name Honor has its roots in Latin and European history, it has since gained popularity around the world, transcending cultural and linguistic boundaries. Its enduring appeal lies in its association with positive values and aspirations, making it a timeless and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with a strong ethical connotation.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Honor
People
Honor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Honor 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
Honor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Honor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,949 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Honor 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 86,795 US residents.
Is Honor a common name?
We classify Honor as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,438 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Honor most popular?
The single biggest year for Honor was 2021, when 247 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Honor is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Honor in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,735 people with the name Honor, or 0.91 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,013 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 Honor 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 Honor?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Honor on both sides of the split. Of the 2,731 people counted with this name, 722 were male (26.4%) and 2,009 were female (73.6%). 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 Honor?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Honor is White at 51.0%. The next largest groups are Black (25.8%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Honor most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Honor in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.0% (1,395 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 Honor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Honor a female name?
Yes, 68.8% of people registered as Honor 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 Honor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Honor 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 Honor 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 common is the name Honor?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.