Head to head · Boys' names
Henry vs Hudson
#5 vs #17 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Henry is a whisker ahead (#5 vs #17 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Henry leads 4 measures of 6; Hudson leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Henry #9, Hudson #813 — Henry higher
- 1890s: Henry #10, Hudson #861 — Henry higher
- 1900s: Henry #11, Hudson #944 — Henry higher
- 1910s: Henry #13, Hudson #1008 — Henry higher
- 1920s: Henry #19, Hudson #1163 — Henry higher
- 1930s: Henry #26, Hudson #1366 — Henry higher
- 1940s: Henry #37, Hudson #1477 — Henry higher
- 1950s: Henry #63, Hudson #1784 — Henry higher
- 1960s: Henry #93, Hudson #2407 — Henry higher
- 1970s: Henry #120, Hudson #2995 — Henry higher
- 1980s: Henry #136, Hudson #2036 — Henry higher
- 1990s: Henry #138, Hudson #1022 — Henry higher
- 2000s: Henry #102, Hudson #336 — Henry higher
- 2010s: Henry #34, Hudson #81 — Henry higher
- 2020s: Henry #7, Hudson #27 — Henry higher
Henry stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Henry | Hudson |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #9 | #813 |
| 1890s | #10 | #861 |
| 1900s | #11 | #944 |
| 1910s | #13 | #1008 |
| 1920s | #19 | #1163 |
| 1930s | #26 | #1366 |
| 1940s | #37 | #1477 |
| 1950s | #63 | #1784 |
| 1960s | #93 | #2407 |
| 1970s | #120 | #2995 |
| 1980s | #136 | #2036 |
| 1990s | #138 | #1022 |
| 2000s | #102 | #336 |
| 2010s | #34 | #81 |
| 2020s | #7 | #27 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Henry
- Canada#12
- England & Wales#14
- Scotland#88
Hudson
- Canada#27
- England & Wales#42
- Scotland#46
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Henry
Home ruler — from Germanic heim, "home," and ric, "ruler, power"
The sense is closer to "ruler of an estate or household" than to anything royal; the royal association came later, from the kings who bore it.
Haimirich → Henricus → Henri → Henry → Harry
How it traveled
The name begins as Germanic Haimirich, carried by Frankish and later German nobility, and Latinized in medieval documents as Henricus. Old French shaped it into Henri, and the Normans brought it to England after 1066, where it was written Henry but spoken Harry for centuries — which is why both survive today as separate names.
Hudson
"son of Hudd" — Hudd being a medieval English pet name
The surname itself is straightforward: Hudd plus -son. What Hudd stood for is where scholars part ways. The usual reading takes it as a medieval short form of Hugh, from a Germanic root meaning "heart, mind, spirit." A second reading links Hudd to Richard, which produced its own crop of medieval pet forms. Both are seriously held, and the surname was likely formed more than once in different parts of England.
Hugh → Hudd → Hudson
How it traveled
The name grew out of medieval England, where a man known as Hudd's son eventually became simply Hudson, and the label stuck to the family line. English speakers then carried it across the Atlantic, where it attached itself to a river, a bay and a stretch of New York countryside — and, in the twentieth century, to an American car marque.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Henry
HEN-ree
Two syllables, stress on the first, the same in American and British English. The French Henri (on-REE) and German Heinrich (HYNE-rikh) are pronounced quite differently, which is worth knowing if the name honors family in either language.
- Harry — The medieval English spoken form of Henry; now fully independent and given as a name on its own, so calling a Henry "Harry" reads as traditional rather than inventive.
- Hank — An American short form, informal, long associated with men of the mid-twentieth century and now used freely again.
- Hal — An old clipped form, used by Shakespeare for the young Henry V in the Henry IV plays; informal and less common today.
- Hen — Casual family shortening, mostly used at home rather than in introductions.
- Also Henny.
Hudson
HUD-sun
Two syllables, stress on the first. The vowel is the one in "mud." It sounds the same in American, British, Canadian and Australian English, and the spelling gives no one trouble.
- Hud — The main short form in English, informal, used within families and among friends.
- Huds — Casual and mostly spoken rather than written; common among schoolmates and on sports teams.
- Huddy — A diminutive used with small children; tends to be dropped as the child gets older.
Who has carried each name
Henry
Henry Ford (b. 1863) — Put America on wheels with the Model T
Henry David Thoreau (b. 1817) — Walden's philosopher of simple living
Henry VIII of England (b. 1491) — The six-wives king who split England from Rome
Hudson
No documented entry for Hudson yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Henry if you want…
- a name most people already know#5 in 2025, 12,020 babies that year
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Harry, Hank and Hal
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 70% for Hudson
Choose Hudson if you want…
- a name fewer children share#17 in 2025 — roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Hudson
- a name on the way upup 26 places on the charts in five years
- a name that feels very nowHudson is climbing the charts fast
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Henry
Strengths
- Spelled one way and known everywhere in English — nobody will ask you to repeat it or write it down.
- An unbroken written record in England from the Norman Conquest onward, and continuous American use since record-keeping began.
- Three well-established short forms with different registers: Harry, Hank and Hal.
To consider
- It is in heavy use among babies right now and rising, so a Henry may well share a classroom or a soccer team with another one.
- Because Harry and Hank are so well established, other people may shorten the name for you. Worth deciding early which, if any, you want used.
- Henry VIII is the first Henry many people think of, and his reputation is what it is — though seven other English kings and a long line of American writers and inventors share the name.
Hudson
Strengths
- The spelling is already familiar to nearly everyone in the English-speaking world through the river, the bay and the valley, so it rarely needs repeating or correcting.
- Pronunciation is fixed and obvious from the page — no regional variants, no first-day-of-school negotiation.
- It also charts in Canada, England & Wales and Scotland, so it travels without translation.
To consider
- This name's rise is recent and steep. Nearly everyone carrying it is a child, so for now it reads distinctly young — and it will always mark the era your child was born in.
- It sits in a crowded family of surname names ending in -son and -on. Expect it to be grouped, and occasionally confused, with several similar-sounding classmates.
- The geographic pull is strong: for many Americans the first association is the river or the valley rather than a person. That fades once they meet a Hudson, but it is the first thought.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Henry
12%chance Henry feels dated by 2040
Henry has held the top-100 across 11 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Hudson
70%chance Hudson feels dated by 2040
Hudson is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Henry and Hudson in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Henry and Hudson?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Gorgeous — and about to be everywhere
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- all guides
Every list here names both Henry and Hudson — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Henry or Hudson — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Henry or Hudson?
- Henry, in 2025: Henry ranked #5 with 12,020 babies; Hudson ranked #17 with 8,583 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Henry or Hudson?
- Hudson. Over the last five years Henry moved up 4 places; Hudson moved up 26 places.
- Which is the older name, Henry or Hudson?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Henry and Hudson?
- About 393,000 people named Henry are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 112,000 people named Hudson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Henrys or Hudsons in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 6 classrooms will have a child named Henry. Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Hudson.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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