Helen Hayes
There are approximately 118 people named Helen Hayes living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 2,904,698 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Helen with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Hayes. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
118
1 in 2,904,698
Named Helen
180K
Alive today
Named Hayes
226K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 180K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1918
Average age: 66
Estimated bearers: 226K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #127
Per 100K: 65.85
Top ancestry: White (69.4%)
First name trend
Helen: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Helen. The peak year was 1918 with 36,228 births. The average person named Helen today is 66 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Hayes surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Hayes, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 69.4%.
- White69.4%
- Black or African American24.7%
- Two or more races2.3%
- Hispanic or Latino2.3%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Helen has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0525% of the US population, based on 179,926 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Hayes appears at a rate of 65.85 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0658%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 118 people with the full name Helen Hayes. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Helen
Related
Other people with the surname Hayes
FAQ
Helen Hayes: questions and answers
How many people are named Helen Hayes?
We estimate approximately 118 people in the United States share the full name Helen Hayes. That works out to about 1 in 2,904,698 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0525%) with the surname frequency (65.85 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Helen Hayes?
We classify Helen Hayes as "Very Rare". About 1 in 2,904,698 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Helen a male or female name?
Helen is predominantly female. Out of 1,026,632 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Helen profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.