Hyman
Hebrew name meaning "life."
Name Census estimates that about 593 living Americans carry the first name Hyman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hyman today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hyman births was 1916 (379 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hyman. 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
- • The typical person named Hyman is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Hymans were born before 1960.
People living today
593
~ 1 in 578,001 Americans
Peak year
1916
379 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
2014 SSA rank
#10,028
Tracked since 1880
Census
Hyman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 772 people with the first name Hyman, which placed it at #15,023 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
#15,023
National first-name rank
People counted
772
772 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hyman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hyman is White at 68.7%. The next largest groups are Black (14.2%) and Hispanic (11.1%). 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 Hyman 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 Hyman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.7% · 530
- Black or African American14.2% · 110
- Hispanic or Latino11.1% · 86
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 29
- Two or more races1.8% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Popularity
Hyman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hyman from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 2,778 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hyman 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 Hyman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hymans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. New York, Massachusetts, Illinois recorded the most babies named Hyman, while North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 306 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hyman
The name Hyman has its roots in the ancient Hebrew language, tracing back to the biblical era. It is derived from the Hebrew name Chaim, which means "life" or "alive." This name was commonly used among Jewish communities in the Middle East and later spread to other parts of the world.
In the Hebrew Bible, the name Chaim is mentioned in several instances, often associated with the concept of vitality and longevity. One notable example is found in the Book of Genesis, where God promises Abraham a long and fruitful life, stating, "You shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age" (Genesis 15:15).
The earliest recorded use of the name Hyman dates back to the Middle Ages, when it emerged as a variant of the Hebrew name Chaim. This variation likely occurred due to the influence of other languages and dialects in the regions where Jewish communities resided.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Hyman was Hyman ben Meshullam, a Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in Italy during the 13th century. He was known for his contributions to the study of the Talmud and Jewish law.
In the 16th century, Hyman Shtayner was a prominent Jewish printer in Prague, Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic). He played a significant role in publishing Jewish religious texts and literature, contributing to the preservation and dissemination of Jewish culture.
During the 17th century, Hyman Rofe was a noted physician and scholar in Amsterdam. He authored several medical treatises and was highly respected in his field.
In the 19th century, Hyman Gratz (1776-1857) was a prominent Jewish-American businessman and philanthropist. He was one of the founders of the Jewish Publication Society and played a crucial role in the establishment of Jewish educational institutions in Philadelphia.
Another notable figure was Hyman Rickover (1900-1986), a renowned American naval officer and engineer. He was instrumental in the development of the United States Navy's nuclear propulsion program and is widely regarded as the "Father of the Nuclear Navy."
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Hyman throughout history, each contributing to their respective fields and leaving a lasting impact on their communities and society as a whole.
People
Hyman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hyman 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
Hyman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hyman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 593 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hyman 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 578,001 US residents.
Is Hyman a common name?
We classify Hyman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,858 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hyman most popular?
The single biggest year for Hyman was 1916, when 379 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hyman is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hyman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 772 people with the name Hyman, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,023 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 Hyman 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 Hyman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hyman appears almost entirely male. Of the 771 people counted with this name, 99.1% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Hyman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hyman is White at 68.7%. The next largest groups are Black (14.2%) and Hispanic (11.1%). 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 Hyman most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hyman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.7% (530 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 Hyman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hyman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hyman 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 Hyman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hyman 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 Hyman 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 Hyman?
You can see how many people share the name Hyman on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.